“Moonfactory” is a new release by Hyde Out, an outstanding English duo based in London. It’s their fourth full-length album, arriving after a critically acclaimed “Tunnel Vision,” another excellent piece of sonic artistry that you should also check out. Heavily promoted with “Another Life” and “Go High,” two marvelous singles that vividly showcase what you might expect from the remainder of the material, “Moonfactory” carries thirteen incredible compositions that will appeal to even the pickiest music enthusiasts. Lyrically, Hyde Out explores themes such as love, relationships, friendship, various emotions, moods, situations, and circumstances, so it’s a highly relatable album that will immediately resonate with the broader auditorium. Soundwise, the band combines many different but complementary music genres to illustrate rich and luxurious sonic imagery. Perhaps alternative rock comes to mind first, but you’ll undoubtedly notice how nineties rock, indie rock, classic rock and alt-pop, and Britpop found their way into this sonic equation. Hyde Out use all these additional elements as more than necessary enhancements, accentuations, decorations, and other details to uplift these songs to new heights while simultaneously remaining loyal to the primary sonic direction. Throughout the album, these skilled musicians levitate from nostalgic, retro alt-rock to more modern waters, showcasing their versatility as a band. Therefore, these experimentations with many different but complementary styles will immediately appeal to alternative rock fans, as well as those newbies stumbling upon this longevous music genre for the first time.
With the initial notes and beats, it becomes apparent that Hyde Out are not joking around with their music. You’ll notice how each composition arrives with a perfect structure, garnered with many intricate segments, brilliant ideas, and flawless musicianship. “Oblivious” is an outstanding opening track that vividly demonstrates their dedication to the craft. It’s one of those songs that immediately grab you by the collar and refuse to let go long after it ends. Hyde Out fully stacked “Oblivious” with some of the finest vocal arrangements and singalongs, delivering that anthemic ambiance that will convince even the pickiest listeners to spin this number over and over again. The guitars shine in the limelight throughout the entire song, delivering mesmerizing chord progressions, harmonies, melodies, themes, and leads while the equally intricate low-ends and excellent drumming performance propel the remainder of the instrumentations to new heights. “Dedicated To Ones That Want Me Dead” continues at the same pace, but with more power and groove. Besides heavily distorted chord progressions and riffs, the band incorporated some reverby sonic maneuvers, resembling something post-rock and progressive rock acts would eventually do. This style suits them well, as they demonstrate their fresh, unique, innovative, versatile style to the max.
But these folks are not only about those groovy, heavy, powerful alternative rock songs. Quite the contrary, you’ll notice how tracks such as “Only Words,” “Games We Play,” “Another Life,” “Bring On,” and “Cityscape 49,” resonate with all those calm, soothing, relaxing, ethereal sonic maneuvers. These compositions showcase their writing, composing, arranging, and producing abilities to the max, as they poured heart and soul while working on these songs. You’ll notice that a slow, mesmerizing, nearly cathartic atmosphere is a common detail for all these songs, but they quite differ in so many ways. Still, they flawlessly work together as a whole, making this material so enjoyable and worth repeating over again. For example “Only Words” arrives with a beautiful interplay between arpeggiated chord progressions, catchy synth themes, and incredible string arrangements while “Games We Play” offers gentle, calm, mesmerizing synth themes, intricate basslines, and well-accentuated rhythmic patterns. “Another Life” is one of the standouts of this material, and there are no wonders why Hyde Out picked this track for their second single. It’s one of those tracks where every instrumentation resonates with power, precision, and finesse, creating emotional depth and complexity that immediately pulls the listeners in. “Bring On” delivers slightly faster rhythmic sequences, empowered with detailed low-ends, marvelous pianos, string, and guitar performances. It also has a beautiful chorus, empowered with perfect back vocals and singalongs that will instantly get into your ears. The acoustic guitars reign supreme in “Cityscape 49,” delivering an almost psychedelic atmosphere. These chord progressions serve as a perfect backdrop for all the vocals to shine upon. The strings are also one of the most dominant sections, helping the guitars to shine in the limelight even brighter.
Hyde Out masterfully experiments with rock with pop elements and tracks like “On Your Way,” “Firefly,” “Power-coated Penguin In Undisclosed Location” and “Kryptonite” are more than adequate examples. The way vocals articulate throughout these tracks is nearly mindblowing. You’ll notice how all those perfectly sung harmonies command attention while guiding the listening apparatus. The impressive vocal range seamlessly balances low, mid, and high notes, emphasizing everything Hyde Out tried to achieve with these songs. In the meantime, the carefully arranged instrumentations create a mesmerizing backdrop for all those vocal articulations to shine upon. You’ll notice how soothing chord progression, beautiful synths, and vividly hearable strings articulate together harmoniously while the detailed low-ends offer heaviness, clarity, and depth. The rhythm section dictates groove and tempo by delivering a comprehensive collection of tastefully assembled, well-accentuate, moderate, and half-time beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics. Hyde Out also paid a lot of attention to arrangements, and their songwriting skills shine in these songs as well. “Go High” is probably one of the heaviest compositions on this material, delivering all those aggressive, powerful, raw riffs while the lead guitar resonates marvelous leads, themes, melodies, and harmonies. This interplay is one of the finest showcases of Hyde Out’s ability to blend several music genres at one. You’ll hear the elements of alternative rock, hard rock, and indie rock working together flawlessly, while the pop sensibility lurks around, offering more emotional depth. The band closes this epic sonic journey with another rendition of “Oblivious.” This time, they focused more on the instrumentations and vocal arrangements, demonstrating once again their dedication to the craft. It’s a perfect closure of such an incredible album.
Hyde Out has created a masterpiece. They proved that alternative rock can still sound exciting, fresh, and unique by implementing some of the finest ideas and orchestrations. Their experience, knowledge, skills, and talent shine through each vocal, sonic, and rhythmic maneuver, proving they’re exceptional songwriters and musicians. “Moonfactory” places Hyde Out at the very top of the contemporary alternative rock scene, and you should instantly place this marvelous full-length album on your music radar. The album is available on all streaming platforms. Don’t miss it!
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