Hum - Inlet (2020)^{Release ID: 21548}

Hum were a band that deserved a better fate. For context, Hum were a nineties alternative rock/metal band who were very clearly trying to fit in to the niche Alice in Chains grunge mold. While their best albums, 1995's You'd Prefer an Astronaut and 1998's Downward is Heavenward, were both critically acclaimed, they never received the crossover push that they could have easily had. Probably because they were not contempt on creating nu-metal, as opposed to the Deftones. And when Chino and company made the pivot to post-metal and shoegaze with White Pony, they already had their name established in the mainstream. As for Hum, it was too late; the band disbanded in 2001.

But they came back and Inlet is the bands first project in over two decades. So how is it? Well it's a very solid record. Flawed for sure, but a nostalgic trip that I thoroughly enjoyed and can't wait to go back to again when I finish writing this review.

In the two decade absence, Hum have gotten a little bit heavier with their overall sound. The guitar passages seem to resonate with some extra crunch in the overall sound, not just from the reverb and spacey atmosphere. The mixing of these guitars are pretty well done....to an extent. If you saw my recent review for The Angelic Process Weighing Souls with Sand, the post-production blowout of the guitar mixing is jarring on both records, but on this album it feels spaced out and less frequent, a trend that I don't mind, but would have been better if the mixing had been more thoroughly even'd out.

There are some really sweet melodic tendencies on this album as well. Shoegaze is a complicated genre to make work; splitting the difference between slow, brooding atmosphere, and melodic groove/life. This album has moments ("Waves", "Step into You") where the balance is executed well, but then you have the longer song structures like "Desert Rambler" which just go on with no sense of direction. I will admit though, the closing track "Shapeshifter" has excellent transitions to end the album.

Overall, the comeback record from Hum is a solid step in the return of nineties nostalgia, by a band that were actually there! The blending of sounds and influences are concealed well enough to sound new and fresh for newcomers, but still reasonably easy to find for those looking for reference points. The songwriting is good and the album doesn't feel too self-indulgent, even if the album does run long around the last two songs. In the end though, I am concerned that this album will be slept on by far too many people who would enjoy this stuff. Hopefully these good words will help.