Tracks:

1. Part I
2. Part II
3. Part III
4. Part IV

The flashing cursor on my computer screen is starting to get on my tits. I feel it’s accusing me of inactivity. Sitting there flash, flash, flashing whilst all I can do is stare back at it ineptly. It speaks to me. ‘Hit a fucking key’ it demands. ‘Any fucking key. Make up some form of word. Make a sentence. Do it you brain dead reviewer. I’ll not stop flashing unless you do. Switching the computer off won’t help. I’ll still be here when you start it up again. A perpetual reminder of your failure’. I hate that cursor.

Please just let it go away and leave me in peace. There is no peace though for the wicked. Nor for the reviewer lost in thought but unable to put those same thoughts down on a word processor. I’m frozen in time. My mind a blank page of ideas. Music swirls around my head and the cursor waits impatiently.

Flash, flash, flash. I leave the room feeling utterly impotent. The cursor can flash till the cows come home. I’ll not be there to see it. I need to regroup and gather myself together. There’s work to be done. I just need more time by myself. That’s all. I’ll be back soon enough. Who am I kidding.
FFW 6 long hours later…

I’ve returned. Refreshed. Revitalised. Ready to lay down some shit. The cursor can go fuck itself. The time away hasn’t been wasted. I’ve had ‘Hidden Doors (Part I - IV)’ playing on a non stop loop. I know this fucker inside and out. No secrets are left to be unearthed. I’m ready to tell all.

The Missing Ensemble are John Sellekaers (Xingu Hill, Dead Hollywood Stars), Daniel De Los Santos (Tamarin) and Mathias Delplanque (Lena, Bidlo) along with additional contributions from Ernst Karel, Eric Heinroth and our whale loving noise friend Masami Akita. ‘Hidden Doors (Part I - IV)’ is a debut release from this trio. The four tracks are of the atmospheric drone / dark ambient / faint noise / minimalist glitch variety. Each track representing a different door through which a persons perceptions are continually challenged. As one closes abruptly another opens up in front for an entirely different aural experience.

The quest to discover what is hidden behind each of them too great to miss. A slight whiff of unforeseen dread and isolation hangs in the air as the sounds unfurl to reveal the multi textures beneath.

The exploration of sound is engineered in such a way as to make repeated plays an essential part of the experience. The listener urged to use their own creative imaginations to decipher what they hear. The sonic equivalent of that great cult film ‘The Cube’ released many years ago…but NOT the abysmal sequels which were utter shit. FFW 4 days later…

A lot of music I get in for review I would class as disposable. Hear it a couple of times, write it up, then dump it away, never to be played again, for something else. The Missing Ensemble though made me keep coming back to their release. For some inexplicable reason I couldn’t get their atmospheric sounds out of my system. Must play it again. Have to play it again. So I have. Repeatedly. It’s that sort of record. The cover art by Ray Caesar further sums up this release. All is not what it first appears. And in case I forget…‘Hidden Doors (Part I - IV)’ also includes a booklet with two stories, in English & French, and is limited to only 500 copies. You’ll also be pleased to note that the cursor and I are friends again…ahhh.