Hesaitix – Noctian Airgap (PAN 152)

Through the haze we could make out hardly anything. Just the black line of the horizon. And in the distance the faint glimmering of the sea.

James Whipple returns from a long period of musical dormancy with his first full length LP for PAN since 2017.

As M.E.S.H., he honed a singular and unpredictable sonic identity on his debut album Piteous Gate. Re-emerging as Hesaitix, the now-familiar motifs have become streamlined, the sound palette both more refined and more elaborate. Even at its most abstract, there is an uncanny presence permeating the record, a convincing emotional reality with its own narrative and spatial logic.

Opener ‘Cusp of Unknowing’ announces itself with crushing low end synths feathered with delicate chimes before dissolving into the oceanic din of a data center. Rolling, engine-like subs mark the start of ‘Taurian Shade,’ a low- tempo percussive drive past iced-over chords and angular synth lines. ‘Geflatnet’ and ‘Volunteer’ dip into grooves bordering on nostalgic, referencing a misremembered golden era of electronica long-players. On ‘Santarosae (Black Dolphin),’ a sense of primordial awe comes to the fore, while ‘Black Line,’ originally presented as an audio installation in 2022, uses the human voice to explore a narrative approach to sound. ‘Noctian Airgap’ and ‘Anticrime’ return to syncopation and its complex moods, while ‘Subdermal’ and ‘Hypersea’ embrace repetition in service to atmosphere.