Review Summary: An endlessly impressive swan song from a legendary band, Inlet is heavenly yet crushing, and utterly gargantuan in its scope and execution.
I still remember the day I was alerted that Hum released a new record on Bandcamp. One of the 90’s most criminally under-appreciated alternative rock acts, Hum pioneered a kind of grungy space-rock that was endlessly mimicked but never perfectly imitated. Records such as
You’d Prefer an Astronaut and
Downward is Heavenward were sonic landmarks that inspired the likes of Deftones, fusing excellent songwriting with a simultaneously crushing yet blissful wall of sound - an impressive amalgam of shoegaze and alternative metal. I’ve always thought comeback albums were risky endeavors, especially so for a band whose music I enjoyed in my adolescence, so I was understandably curious to see what this mysterious new record entailed. Perhaps it was just some harmless pastiche of their 90’s classics?
Absolutely not.
“Waves” opens the album like a euphoric sledgehammer to the face. Drummer Brian St. Pere’s (R.I.P!) massive drum fill launches the song off into the stratosphere accompanied by a riff that both soars and stampedes. The record never quite lets up from there, as the sonic collage of razor-sharp guitars, earth-moving bass riffs, and St. Pere’s mammoth rhythm sections yields a stunning effect. As a self-professed audiophile and gear-head,
Inlet is one of the most perfectly produced records I’ve ever heard. The layering of each member’s contributions atop one another results in a massive wall of sound, but there is still adequate space and separation between each instrument to breathe and thrive. The production is wintry yet inviting, a perfect canvas for the wall of sound that Talbott and co. are able to conjure for nearly an hour, most notably in the euphoric coda of “In The Den” or the blissfully meditative bridge of “Desert Rambler”. The sludgy low-end stomp is balanced out by shimmering riffs that resemble synth pads and swells, creating textures and sounds that represent a pinnacle in the band’s storied career.
Inlet is not only a sonic marvel from a textural perspective, but its compositions and arrangements are similarly astounding. The record features some of the longest songs the band ever crafted, exploring new sonic territory while retaining their signature ethos. Hum masterfully juggles dreamy ambient sections alongside explosively heavy ones. The aforementioned 9-minute epic “Desert Rambler” ebbs and flows between moments of blissful reprieve and all-out sonic assault. 8-minute behemoths “The Summoning” and “Folding” are similarly euphoric, effortlessly combining ambient drone with flavors of doom and sludge metal. Never before has the band sounded quite this bold and adventurous yet self-assured, and the results are nothing short of astonishing. Matt Talbott’s famously demure vocals act as a perfect conduit between the music and the listener, echoing and guiding us through the cavernous sonic dirge like a gentle tractor beam. On “Step Into You”, he deftly croons over an irresistible slice of sludgy alternative rock that could’ve easily been a mainstay in the heyday of 90’s grunge.
The album reaches a head with its final three songs, which also happen to encompass the record’s most idyllic moments. “Cloud City” is another electrifying cut with radio potential centered around a major key, charging along to a relentless coda anchored around St. Pere’s masterful drumming. “Folding” is a similarly utopian masterpiece of composition; throughout its 8-minute runtime, Hum takes us through every sonic avenue they’ve explored thus far - massively heavy sludge, gorgeous balladry, and an ambient drone that evokes a degree of emotion that most entire albums are unable to. “Shapeshifter” is the much-anticipated culmination of the entire record, and perhaps of the entire band’s career. A breathtaking, aptly-titled mammoth of a tune, the closer swells and shifts until it ends on an unexpectedly tender note. It is a most fitting finale, ending this hourlong swan-song of one of the most criminally overlooked bands of the 90’s.
Which brings me back to my first experience of this record on Bandcamp - I was expecting a weary retreading of the band’s old alternative metal flourishes of yore. Instead, I was treated to one of my favorite sonic experiences of all time.
Inlet is the sound of a band that has fully realized its powers, executed with a finesse seldom seen in most comeback records. Throughout the album’s eight songs and 55-minute runtime, the band builds on the exquisite presentations of indelible songwriting and lush texture that characterized their 90’s output, resulting in a true tour de force that should prove to be one of this decade’s enduring classics. If this really is Hum’s final offering,
Inlet is a most triumphant swan song, and is their crowning achievement in every aspect.
