Where have I been the last few months or so? Seemingly existing in a cultural vacuum with my head up my sphincter, because up to now, Snow Ghosts have completely bypassed me. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t be too bothered about sleeping through the latest mainstream phenomenon the fact I’ve not heard a note of the latest album by Adele, for example, comes as a relief rather than standing as a source of panic that I’m being left behind by the world at large – but this, this is altogether different. The track originally appeared on their critically acclaimed debut album 'A Small Murmuration' and it has since been chosen for the new 'X-Men Apocalypse' film trailer. As such, it’s already huge in its own right.
It’s also deeply moving in its atmospheric depth, and while the video may well have connotations of black metal sacrifice Snow Ghosts conjure something that’s powerful and haunting rather than cliché and corny.
A work of sparse electronica with whispered vocals that are utterly compelling, ‘The Hunted’ is all about the tension and the build: it’s tense and gripping, with or without the video, building and building… you’re on the edge of your seat just waiting for the apocalyptic blast, the arrival, the hit, the moment of impact. And just when it seems inevitable, and that the time has finally arrived… silence.
You stagger out into the silent night, amazed that the song is over and the blast hasn’t hit. Yet for all of this, the impact is just has strong.
