Alex Zhang Hungtai - Divine Weight

Alex Zhang Hungtai for the last few years has been an absolute fascination of mine.  You may know him from a vast amount of musical projects.  But I became familiar with him through his work as Dirty Beaches.  His music under this moniker still to this day is just so hard to place, and genuinely experimental.  It was this mixture of hazy atmospheres, Low-Fi production, and Rockabilly.  But that's the past, and if you haven't checked out Alex's older material, please do.  Alex is back with a new project, under his own name.  And from the sound of it, it's this really interesting mix of Ambient, Drone, Electronic, and Experimental, and I'm excited as hell to talk about it!

This album starts off with “Pierrot”, and right off the bat, we’re dealing with some really intriguing and mysterious stuff.   I love the way all of these layers of synths overlap and produce this absolute ocean of sound.  And honestly, it’s absolutely beautiful.  It has the dreariness and the desperation I’m used to hearing from Alex’s past music, but it has this new emotional power that I can’t even begin to describe.  The low-fi production of many of Alex’s old projects was often polarizing for some.  But this is just so muscular and truly eerier, but also immensely beautiful.  Now, a lot of people have compared Alex’s work to the work of David Lynch and Twin Peaks, which, yes, is exactly how he ended up playing the show last year.  And honestly, “Pierrot” is no different, it’s just as surreal and otherworldly.  But I feel like this can be compared to Lynch’s work more than ever with just how dramatic this is.  This is one hell of an intro.  Then we have some stunning Experimental Ambient in the form of “Matrimony”, as Alex here heavily samples some choir vocals.  But that, alongside some droning synths and some other instrumentals fluttering out of reach makes for this wall of sound that’s absolutely stunning.  And hell yea, it’s gorgeous.  Now, yes, “Matrimony” easily could have been bigger and switched up some more.  But the way Alex is working with sound here so far is nothing short of remarkable.  But “This Is Not My Country” brings back the wild experimentation and true feelings of dread.  I love the fluttering woodwinds and the desolate feel of this/  There might be a lot happening right in front of us, but everything in this atmosphere is just so barren and quiet.  It makes for a seriously gripping performance.  Every instrumental here is just so cutting and sparse, it’s actually beautiful with just how dreary it is.  But like I said, when things get quiet you just get this unreal, crushing Ambient sounds that comes off like a river racing around you.  That marched up against these very dreamy, surreal horns makes for this unreal sound.   But as dense as this all is, there still remains a very fluttering feel to all of this.  But I’m so on the edge of my seat that whenever a new instrumental pops in, it’s legitimately shocking.
For someone who's never really dabbled in Ambient or Experimental music before, with “Yaumatei” it’s becoming very clear very quickly that Alex has a great mind for pacing and atmosphere.  Which, yea, you could have sort of figured out from his early work.  But this is really stunning and so incredibly dark.  It’s a patient track, that like many Experimental and Ambient greats, sound truly alive.  Each instrumental has such a personality, all while this very powerful drone is rolling on and on underneath.  And while yes, “Yaumatei” is the shortest track here, it hits fast and hard, and those otherworldly sounds just stick with you so much.  This album finishes off with “Divine Weight”.  And clearly, Alex isn’t done with us by far, because this finale is 20-minutes long.  This opens up with these very droning, meditative keyboards.  They’re certainly beautiful, but like a lot of material here really keeps you on the edge of your seat.  It's undeniably eerie, even though nothing changes up for most of the time.  Plus, the way everything just sort of swells up and absolutely demands patience, it’s pretty wild.  Alex, like a whole lot of other truly great artists that touch these genres, has just made a way to make these very patient instrumentals full of life and constantly moving.  And while yes, over the course of 20-minutes, this easily could have opened up a little more, I wasn’t bored. 

Rating: 7.9/10

Give A Listen To: “Pierrot”, “This Is Not My Country”, “Yaumatei”

Least Favorite Track: I mean if I had to pick one it would be “Matrimony” but even that is beautiful. 

Genre: Ambient / Experimental

Overall Thoughts:  Alex with his first album under his real name, is a stark, beautiful, and you bet your ass chilling ride.  It’s only about 40 minutes long with 5 tracks, but Alex absolutely makes the best of it.  The material here, while it’s often minimal and cold, has such a sense of life to it.  Sort of like the music of Tim Hecker, every one of the few instrumentals Alex breaks out here have so much personality.  Now, yes, this could have been a little bit of a more diverse album, and sure Alex could have switched it up a bit.  But for a debut album and a fresh start for Alex, he’s already doing some really fantastic things with sound.