Cut Out Kid

Hum Blow Our Minds With Surprise Album “Inlet”

Out of nowhere, indie darlings, Hum release their first record in 22 years. It’s called Inlet, and it picks up right where the band left off.

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Opener “Waves” crashes into the listener’s ear, just as the title suggests. Driven by pulsating basslines and the bombastic beating of drums, we are instantly awash in layers of beautifully distorted guitars, that curl, and crest.

The ominous voice of Matt Talbot hovers just above the salty sea of calculated noise, coming to shore, only to be swept away again.

“Holy fuck! I never knew how much I missed Hum?”

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“In The Den” is the Pumpkin-esque, Catherine Wheel, rock that Hum once started in small-town Champaign. It seems Talbot still needs that expression in his life, as much as we need him in ours at this unprecedented moment.

“I am still alive and what’s coming true/Is the signal to my return, oh/Find me here on the ground and in need of you.”

There could be no better time than the present for Hum to return, especially in this form. Of the eight songs on the album, only “Step Into You” has a radio-friendly length of four minutes. The rest are jams that clock in between five and nine minutes. What a comeback!

For those about to rock, we salute you!

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Filed under:
Album Reviews, All About Music

Tags:
Champaign, Hum, indie darlings, Inlet, Polyvinyl Records, Surprise Album