EP REVIEW: Disruption – Hanry

Since releasing their debut Panorama EP in 2022, the French collective HANRY have sought to translate the momentum of their post-rock sound into their development. The six-piece have subsequently appeared on KEXP, at the Trans Musicales festival in their hometown Rennes in 2023, and signed to Pelagic Records to release this follow-up EP.

Disruption retains and refines the signature sounds of that debut. It’s a marriage of glistening ambience, unorthodox electronics and unrepentant post-rock crescendos. Opening track Radiance sets the tone – plaintive piano orbited by ambient swells and a driving electronic kick. Inevitably the track builds, first into a standard drum beat, and then finally into crashing cymbals and guitar distortion, simple octave piano stabs providing the emotional core.

Ether follows a near-identical formula, adding some bit-crushed percussion and oversaturated sweeps to the palette. BRUIT ≤ bassist and producer Clément Libes does well behind the mixing desk to balance all the ingredients and the transitions from ambience to rock-out. There’s an intricacy to the sonic construction as well. Each instrument and sound is precision-tooled within a delicate wall of sound that earns the escalations to catharsis.

The last two tracks do show a couple of different gears. The shorter Zénith (Tape#2) is a blur of ambience, a cyclical piano phrase amid washes of noise and bit-crushed beats. It lacks any discernible beginning or ending, simply existing as a wash of sound. It wouldn’t be out of place in an indie video game soundtrack. Closing song Intermission feels lighter on its feet, taking a less linear approach to its builds and payoffs. An opening of fluttering melodies and percussive taps takes several twists and turns, eventually falling into another surging crescendo. Its second act features some guitar/bass interplay – the closest you’ll get to a riff here. It’s a welcome tonic to the occasional lack of identity of the other tracks.

As a band, HANRY probably deserve a broader canvas to make a musical statement. Disruption has a rich and well-crafted sound, but it’s hard to get lost in a 20-minute EP, even with the rewards of repeat listens. If you’re a fan of majestic post-rock in the vein of MAYBESHEWILL or MOGWAI, there’s plenty to enjoy here, and hopefully more to look forward to in the future.

Rating: 6/10

Disruption is out now via Pelagic Records.

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