Young Hunting - Attachment In A Child And The Subsequent Condition

What with Human Greed, Steven Severin, David Wells and now Young Hunting it strikes me that's there's definitely something going on in Edinburgh at the moment. The press blurb for Attachment In A Child And The Subsequent Condition, the debut album from Edinburgh based Young Hunting, notes that it "plays as a conceptual soundtrack to a non-existent film". And it does, it's a difficult narrative revolving around the Oedipus Complex which takes on a psychoanalytical approach. The entire album takes a cinematic approach, with two competing narratives given voice through the vocal approach. One takes the perspective of the child as he progresses to manhood, while the other distorted and distant provides a more over-arching take on the narrative. Attachment In A Child And The Subsequent Condition charts the progression from birth (of the child) to death (of the mother). This approach even stretches to the music, which veers from electronic to experimental though remaining firmly in the predominantly industrial genre, taking on a soundtrack styling. With a running time of over 70-minutes there's a lot to take in, and in order to make any sense of it you really need to let it run its course. Even with the numerous instrumental interludes, it's not an easy listen either.

Despite the deep reverberations and industrial beats found throughout Attachment.... there's a murkiness and greyness that recalls the early years of (post) industrial music. The dark electronics and industrial rhythms of 'Static Arena' edges towards a sort of gothic electronic music with a voice, which runs throughout Attachment..., delivered in a gentle Scottish brogue. At other points the sound, say on 'Liminality' is more abstract with its clanking chains and thudding beats. 'The Birth Mask' encapsulates this distinctly lo-fi approach. The distorted voice over whipping industrial rhythms that becomes increasingly frenetic and chaotic. Yet it doesn't hit hard enough as the equipment sounds cheap. It's compounded with the more melancholic moments, such as 'Melancholia', where it sounds rather lightweight. Again it reminds me of tapes from the eighties (and early nineties) of industrial music where style reigns over substance; overrun with ideas that are never really captured by the execution. I don't want to run down Young Hunting too much as I'm focussing on the negatives as Attachment ... clearly shows potential. The whole release has been well thought out and there's lots of encouraging signs. Just listen to the queasy horror styling of 'Earths Ground' with disembodied voices nestling above the pounding rhythms. The playground shouts of children cast amongst the tinkering keys of 'Separation' are good too. At one point on the stuttering electronics of 'Maternity' the sung voice comes across like Depeche Mode. It all wraps up well on the closing tracks 'Between Dog and Wolf' where the soft brogue rises over wafting keyboards and 'Mother And Child' which attains a melancholic cinematic quality.

Young Hunting haven't approached things lightly either; the album comes with copious amount of lyrics and the website features short films/visuals and paintings. But as mentioned earlier there's a definite filmic approach to Attachment In A Child And The Subsequent Condition and as it is, an editor would have reaped dividends to the final cut. Young Hunting are currently working on two new releases: The Night Of The Burning and Tear Apart Living Structures. It will be interesting to hear how they progress. For more information go to www.younghunting.org.uk