Ben Woods — Hovering At Home

I went to Paekākāriki for the first time this Easter, and I wasn’t prepared for how satanic it felt. Driftwood fences, an abandoned (for the holidays) train station, dark green hills looming over us. Anywhere south of Auckland, it seems, has this evermore warp to the weft of time- are we when or then? And the further down you go the more uncertain it gets.

Ben Woods’ Hovering At Home follows this same course, sinister chords slip in and out, drawing in tension and teasing its release, pulling you along to somewhere unknowable and resolving in an ominous squall, like a dissonant orchestra collectively losing its mind.

And yet, no matter how lyrically reserved he is, heart is always present in Ben Woods’ music, if a little fuzzed up around the edges. It still sounds like a straight line between Woods’ intention and this transmission; to join him on the plane he walks between memory and dreams, clarity and distortion, looking out and looking in- that classic kiwi gothic indoor-outdoor flow.

Ben Woods Dispeller is out July 15th on Melted Ice Cream.

Review by Charlotte Billing.