Hen Hoose Collective – The Twelve

Written and recorded on a retreat to the Isle of Lewis, Hen Hoose’s album The Twelve is a richly textured and fiercely innovative body of work that highlights both the individual artists’ talent and the power of creative collaboration. While each track has a decidedly unique world of its own, the album overall has a nuanced combination of ingenuity and rawness that makes it flow with intuitive coherence.

Opener Wipe Out immediately sets the tone of the album: defiantly eclectic but touched with a dash of humour. Its blend of electronic sheen with a sly country twang is a good example of the record’s playfulness and sonic curiosity. Rich (Katy’s In Space) follows with an almost comically sickly sweet vocal lead, launching into a satirical but also oddly empowering take on girl power. The track leans into exaggeration, using a sugary aesthetic to comment on the performance of confidence and femininity.

The catchy and danceable disco track Out My Mind displays impressive vocal range as well as tight production and songwriting, where repetitive soundbites such as glittery piano notes add to the dynamism and delirium rather than detracting, creating a sense of spiralling and dizzying momentum. In the album's third single, Sirens Call My Name, whispery woodwind adds a new sonic dimension alongside the more matter-of-fact vocal performance and shimmering orchestration, expanding the emotional palette. Promise returns to the electronic psychedelia, with pulsating beats that are as dreamy as they are eerie.

In the latter half of the album, Game Of Two shifts the atmosphere again. Rhythmically taut, the track is menacing but liberating ('It’s not my fault you’re just not enough', goes the chorus), with Britney Spears-inspired vocals adding a mischievous edge. Ego Death, one of the album’s most evocative tracks, provides a stark contrast with the previous beat-heavy songs; the snare drum pattern, the bluesy guitar, and a slightly honky-tonk piano give the track an almost nautical, nomadic vibe, lending it an earthiness that adds warmth and maturity.

On the penultimate In Control the instrumentation is explosive and the vocals are passionate and fiery, seemingly juxtaposing with the track title, before the album ends with Blessings On the Day, a meditative track that incorporates somewhat foreboding bass and synth, ending the record on a pensive but slightly haunting note. Ultimately, The Twelve stands as a testament to the power of collective artistry, offering a bold, unpredictable, and deeply enjoyable sonic and narrative journey.

Listen to: Out My Mind, Game Of Two, Ego Death