Sub Rosa have a history of putting out unusual releases, and Mikhail’s ‘Xenofonia’ is no exception. It’s an apocalyptic hybrid of an album that incorporates elements from across the board, and not just in terms of genre, but in cultural terms, too. The result is as times bewildering and occasionally, but it’s never lacking in ideas and nor is there a second that’s anything less than dazzling in its accomplishment.
Large passages are brooding and moody, trip-hop with added drama and seriously sinister undercurrents, and this is nowhere more ably demonstrated than on ‘Future’. Rich atmospherics, rumbling bass frequencies and mesmeric, slow glitch beats dominate compositions that are often sparse yet layered. The lyrics are fragmented and oblique, and highly evocative, although much of their impact is down to the delivery: Mikhail’s style is hushed and intense, but sometimes operatic, others nothing short of acrobatic. The closest comparison I can draw off the top of my head is Björk, but that’s severely underselling Mikhail’s compelling performances.
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Combining cinematic orchestral dramatic, frenetic hand-played percussion instruments and a vocal performance that’s nothing short of manic, ‘Cerberus’ takes Eastern mysticism into a whole other realm, and the light hint of pop that creeps into the epically exploratory ‘Deserter’ provides welcome respite in dense sonic soup. If there’s a common element that runs through ‘Xenofonia’, it’s a sense of the unfamiliar, and exploring the album is an unsettling yet extremely rewarding and life-enriching experience.
Mikhail Online
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