Whether you’ve spent time with 16 Horsepower or Wovenhand, David Eugene Edwards’ music has always stood out due to his fiery delivery style and the sheer amount of ground that each project covered. Always deeply spiritual, works from 16 Horsepower and early Wovenhand offered up striking gothic country, folk, and Americana, while later Wovenhand began to encompass everything from punk to world music as a vehicle for Edwards’ mesmerizing yet sometimes cryptic lyrics. Wovenhand originally functioned as a solo endeavor but expanded to include a regular group of collaborators over the years, so it makes sense that in 2023 David Eugene Edwards released his first solo album Hyacinth under his name. That effort retained some of the folk elements but incorporated some electronics and other stylistic influences that broadened his musical horizons, and this year’s Mercurial Silence pushes even further outwards. The material places an emphasis on thumping beats that have more of a modern hip-hop and electronic feel to them, while retaining the hazier melodies and sweeping instrumentation Edwards is known for.
Considering how much ground Edwards has covered when you go back through Wovenhand’s discography, it makes sense that his second solo endeavor once again flips the script and incorporates elements that were only hinted at before. Where Hyacinth had some beats, here they are the foundation that each of the songs is built upon and this gives Mercurial Silence a very different flow. To me the first thought I had of how to describe this album was gothic folk meets hip-hop with other electronic elements sprinkled in, but there are a lot of other styles that start to jump out at you with each time through. Opener “Sun of Manes” showcases this fusion almost immediately, letting softer guitar melodies expand over top of a thumping bass driven beat. It has this Eastern psychedelia meets modern day hip-hop vibe that seems like it shouldn’t work but does, but if you pay attention to the different layers around the halfway point the electronic side has darker tones that hint at industrial and darkwave. There are still some tracks that are closer to what you might expect from Edwards, as “Uraeus” does have some beats but the percussion and flow has more of a folk rock and world music cadence to it. Each track explores slightly different territory while keeping the speaker rattling beats, and there are a lot of little details that give them their own identity. Tracks like “Geush Urvan” offer sweeping electronics that draw you in with their atmosphere and some huge peaks, but there are also subtle pauses where the injection of piano reminds me of Death in June. There are a few that didn’t quite come together for me, as the way the beat speeds up and slows down on “Ninefold” is an interesting idea but feels a bit too jarring in practice and the droning nature of the title track was a bit out of place with the rest of the material. But when everything comes together into this mesmerizing fusion of gothic folk, hip-hop, and industrial/darkwave leaning electronics Mercurial Silence has hooks that really stick with you.
No matter which band you’ve heard where Edwards is behind the mic, there’s no denying that he has one of those charismatic presences that really adds to the material. While his cadence has changed over time and you can hear the clear differences between 16 Horsepower and later Wovenhand, there continues to be this immense presence to the singing that makes them captivate you from one song to the next. The way that his voice hovers over top of the beats and hazier melodies is entrancing, and you’ll notice subtle differences on each one. Sometimes there’s a bit more gravel and grit as the pitch drops, while other songs emphasize slightly higher pitches that take on a more ethereal tone. Considering Edwards’ work spans almost forty years at this point, the strength and dynamics of his voice remain impressive. Lyrically things remain appropriately cryptic, and while I’ve started to get hints of some of the subject areas being explored on this one this is one of those releases where I’d need much longer than the time spent for this review to truly get a feel for it all.
I came into Wovenhand and 16 Horsepower fairly late, first being exposed to Edwards through Wovenhand’s 2010 effort The Threshingfloor and then working my way backwards. What I discovered then was an artist who had defined much of the early gothic country sound, but later branched out to encompass so many more musical styles and put them together in ways that felt unique and entrancing. That feels more appropriate than ever on Mercurial Silence, as the emphasis on big, booming hip-hop beats and moodier electronics re-frames Edwards’ established sounds in new and exciting ways. It doesn’t always fully come together seamlessly, but the album has this energy and sense of mystery that has kept me returning to try and unravel more of what it has to offer. Mercurial Silence is available from Sargent House.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg