Misc. Day – Rain Come Down

Built for a monsoon, Yves Tumor illustrates with their first experimental composition piece, When Man Fails You to be as a monument of both tension creation and redaction of claustrophobia and sound.

When Man Fails You is ultimately this special record of 11 tracks, ranging to a total of 40 minutes before the synths settle. Yves Tumor relies less on the format of standard noise machines and walls of sound to prove ability, instead, Yves Tumor has samples and a plethora of real-world sound to sculpt with like clay.

Opening with “Mssng Naw,” The primarily instrumental track is gorgeous as waves crash against a shore and wash the audience with each strum of the strings. When the percussion begins to rumble, the cymbal crashes and sporadic playstyles are similar to when a tidal wave hits the rocks and begins to knock pieces and manipulate the landscape. Done either by land or by sea, Yves Tumor is ear-catching and interesting from the first moments of When Man Fails You.

The sudden stop-and-go technique with the mixing on “Mssng Naw” is odd, but the dedicated silence traps the audience in self-reflection. Forcing their hand onto “Slow (Subcutis Version)” where a repetitious piano is a scrambled brain of sound. The harsh noise elements are not present just yet, but When Man Fails You is more of a desire to create freeform jazz and noise as one single project.

Two genres that resemble much of the rule-breaking for music, Yves Tumor spends more time beside the mirror rather than in front of it. The audience stands with these samples of spoken word and intense production as a reflection of fear like on “Psalm” which is impossible to pin down. Sounds come from every angle like whispers, loud thumping of what appears to be an 808 or a bucket falling downstairs, and these Tupperware bowls being used as clapping drums.

“Psalm” is a track that makes noise as a genre and as a track such a pivotal and engaging mix of sounds. Almost as if Yves Tumor was a convict being chased by a detective, the audience tries to decipher these clues and find out what sounds make up the instrumental. An impossible task by basic means, but even under the microscope, When Man Fails You is a complex web of themes and sonic prowess.

Inevitable for discovery and to capture an idea of grasp on Yves Tumor, nothing more is learned from When Man Fails You than when the album first starts. The heavy rain and thunder is an arsenal for Yves Tumor who manipulates and crafts another world of both shattering intensity and invaluable crawls.

Listen To When Man Fails You Here!!! – BandCamp/Spotify/Amazon/iTunes