A sad/beautiful album from one of Tasmania’s many quiet achievers, Steven Wright.
Reflecting on the handful of records Steven Wright has been involved in over the last few years he's proved himself an interesting, humble and resourceful addition to the Australian music landscape.
His 2016 solo LP ‘Repetition’ channeled the likes of Robert Wyatt and Peter Hammill with a real introspective atmosphere, and his post-post-punk duo Bi-Hour’s 2017 LP ‘Regional Indifference’ provided a hilarious and snarky cultural critique on par with The Fall, Slugfuckers or Sleaford Mods at their best.
Here as Firoza, Steven is composing with battery-powered keyboard, field recordings from a trip to Iran, and some additional orchestral flourishes. No doubt this record shares a mode of thinking with the ‘domestic concrete’ approach heard on the Kye and Penultimate Press labels, a reclamation of ‘experimental music’ by simultaneously eccentric and everyday types.
You could almost position ‘In the Noon of Ashura’ as Dark Ambient or 20th Century Composition, but from a position of D-I-Y humility. I’m reminded of Mark Gomes ‘New Sound Of Nature’ cassette from earlier this year. Both tackle heavy issues (climate catastrophe, devastating foreign policy towards the Middle East) via evocative keyboard composition. Highly recommended! - Nic
Stephen took the photos and designed the cover himself.