Christchurch alt-rock four-piece Hypnumb come out with their debut single, Bullet, and an accompanying video. Straight off the bat, the opening notes of distorted guitar with reverb and delay effects, announce that we have a blues-infused track on our hands. Bullet is an unhurried track, deliberate, leisurely, and measured. With the rhythm and melody determined by the bass, the guitar brings in the fuzz and embellishment.
Quite a contrast between the verse and the hard-hitting chorus which unleashes the cymbals and has much more of a rock feel to it. All of it is held together by the vocal styling of singer Bex B. The clarity in her voice, with a Southern twang lends perfectly to this style of song. With hints of Gin Wigmore and Amy Winehouse in her style, it works well with the Zeppelin-esque fuzz of the guitars.
The video that accompanies the track, comes with a level of definition that differs from the haze of the music. The slow, meandering movement of the camera as it tracks through the video, in a sedated, but constant state of flux, mirrors the style of the track. Colour grading is well-utilised, with a dark blue filter applied throughout the video, and light used in line with the energy of the track, increasing when the vocals and instrumentation surge during the choruses.
A solid
offering for a debut single and I can’t wait to see the range and power of Bex’s
voice as the band progresses.
Review written by Alex Moulton
Mudbelly. It's a name.
We are a dirty blues band from Christchurch. If we were ever invited to define ourselves in the Oxford Dictionary: Power-rockin, ball-bustin, whisky-whackin ninjas of blues laden rock would be in our top three.
Fronted by Bex, swaggering rock banshee who won her voice in a poker game with the devil, together with Michael (guitar), Marcus (bass) and John (drums), the sound....just sounds right.