• Record Label: Domino
  • Release Date: Sep 27, 2024
Metascore
84

Universal acclaim - based on 5 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 5
  2. Negative: 0 out of 5
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  1. Oct 2, 2024
    90
    Through Hayden, Ness Speaks – and it’s quite unlike anything else you’ll hear all year.
  2. Oct 9, 2024
    60
    The literary heft of the record leaves slim pickings for pure listening. The familiarity of the vocal line on ‘He’ provides a satisfactory hook, ‘She’ is dreamy and melancholy, while ‘In The Green Chapel’ combines Hayden’s still-unmistakeable vocal with a softly-plucked guitar line that bears similarity to New Order’s ‘True Faith’.
  3. Mojo
    Oct 2, 2024
    80
    Setting Macfarlane’s words to music, the 13 tracks of Ness offer calm with a suitably disquieting undertow, rather like the place itself, with Thorpe’s countertenor adding to the melodrama. [Nov 2024, p.86]
  4. Oct 2, 2024
    90
    This is the most challenging yet of Hayden Thorpe’s solo oeuvre – but also the most rewarding, for you can appreciate it without knowing anything about Orford Ness. The music compels you to undertake a voyage of discovery, to travel in your mind if not your body – but if you’ve been there, you will recognise the sights, the sounds, the sea spray and the ever-constant wind.
  5. Uncut
    Oct 2, 2024
    80
    While Jack McNeill’s woodwind accompaniment lends “In The Green Chapel” and “As” a bucolic atmosphere with an edge of ever-present threat. Meanwhile, snatches of Macfarlane’s elegant words add further intrigue to a wonderfully original piece of work. [Oct 2024, p.43]

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