Tabula Rasa [LP]

In 2021 the album "Footsteps" introduced listeners to the individual style of Human Fig-ures. Daniel Lewis aka The Recluse, Death Posture or Holt merged raw strings with primal percussion to forge a sound of his very own. Lewis now returns to Frigio with "Tabula Rasa". The entrancing title piece is a heady brew of intri-cate guitars, smoky basslines and a pulsing drum patterns. The uplifting melody indie wave of "Breaking Free" follows, with Lewis' vocals haunting from an echoing distance. The low slung "Conclusions are Nil" gives way to the eastern infused harmonies and underhand dealings of the soundtrack streaked "Military School." Distortion drenched, the short and intense "Obedience" shrouds sorrowful vocals in drum machines, strings and haze. Those pain ridden lyrics are central in the closer. A stoical snare pierces the dirge of "Disparages," a cold industrial march into the driving rain. Em-bittered brilliance from Human Figures.