XIMES: POLYHEX 2: Hallelujah Anyway – “New World psychedelia”

XIMES is the project of Cornwall-based artist, David Wurth, who has also gone under the moniker, Deathbird Stories, as well as running the experimental label, Dub Cthonic (which also features Polish duo, Fading Tapes).

POLYHEX 2: Hallelujah Anyway is the second part of POLYHEX trilogy, the first, POLYHEX 1: Magick Hands dropped midway through July this year.

POLYHEX 2: Hallelujah Anyway embodies the warmth of Wurth‘s base in Cornwell, consisting of two lengthy compositions that sweat with spatial drones.

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The first, Hallelujah Anyway, is like a heated mediation that sees the remnants of Sun Ra and Spaceman 3 collide. A swathe of improvised percussion works skittishly beneath the surface as subtle drones carry the composition towards a new orbit.

And while the second composition, Staring at the Sun, occupies this very orbit, Wurth expands on the range here, with thrumming dub-like bass lines and glittering grooves that produce a wellspring of humid feedback. It’s the kind of ideas that Jim O’Rourke and Oren Ambarchi have committed to tape in the past, however Wurth has progressed the sound, adding vital, melodic layers that result in New World psychedelia.

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While the two compositions are contrasting in their own right, it’s fascinating at just how much manoeuvring Wurth does throughout this beautiful sonic voyage.

Clocking in at over 70 minutes, POLYHEX 2: Hallelujah Anyway is a lengthy endeavour, however this shouldn’t put listeners off. It’s an ethereal journey to get lost in, exploding across the canvass in what is folk-laden jazz-inspired drone. It’s a world Wurth completely thrives in and with this latest release, he is confirmed as the latest UK underground pioneer in experimental music.

XIMES POLYHEX 2: Hallelujah Anyway is out now via Dub Cthonic. Purchase from Bandcamp.