Cold Ceiling – I Must Be Closer (Cold Ceiling Records)
Cold Ceiling aren’t new, the group evolved from artful and moody Poneke entity Plaines, who released a nifty self-titled cassette of material back in 2019, Then, being self-aware, changed their name to Cold Ceiling, and in 2022 released a debut extended EP Exsanguinate & Speak in a Dim Cave which kind of sits/sats (think New Orders Movement) as a nexus between the two.
Cold Ceiling are Riley Noonan (Drums) (also in Awning) Christopher Jackson (Bass) and Mathew Pogson (Guitar Vocals) and I Must Be Closer was recorded over a period-of-time at Roundhead Studios. As a body of mahi, I Must Be Closer sanguinely suffers from care and focus, and truly represents the band I saw at 2024’s Junk Festival (that wowed), for the first time.
Coming in at 34 minutes over seven strains, I Must Be Closer, combines post-rock elements, with death-grind delivery and components of post-punk. Syrup, the opening track, a six-minute rollercoaster ride through the aforementioned genres, sets the listener up for a journey in aptly captured angular melody. The two songs released in advance (as a digital split single) Silvereye and Arrow have been strategically placed midfield, guiding the listener to the unheard initially, avoiding preconceived expectations.
I Must Be Closer is not a totality of abrasiveness. Like many other Tamaki Makaurau acts; Cabinet and Carthage (sadly on hiatus), Cold Ceiling has managed to fuse noiseless-narratives with tumultuous-tales, an outcome that has Cold Ceiling presenting the listener with a gothic novel, rather than a penny dreadful. Available on Bandcamp, of course.
Simon Coffey
