Tenebrous Mitchell - The Havering

The Havering is an eponymous experiment that ties together the rabid, disquieting poetry of Gerry Mitchell and the random noise / Arab Strap ethics of Tenebrous. The latest in the present flux of poetry-set-to-music projects, The Havering offers little to suggest that the two mediums are not, at least sometimes, mutually exclusive. It's an old story, attempted by bards and troubadours for centuries. Content to be carried by the deranged tempers and notions that flutter by, Tenebrous interpolate noises that follow, rather than set the mood, instead of adding something of substance to the mix. When Tenebrous' music manifests itself proper, rather than clamouring around behind the façade of Mitchell's cogitations, The Havering offers a glimpse that portrays the beauty and symbiotic notions that run through the Tenebrous Mitchell project. All too brief and fleeting to be redeeming, however, it is the language-based experimentation of Gerry Mitchell that becomes instantly more memorable than the work of Tenebrous. [Neil Ferguson]