Richard Youngs has been working with reduced musical means for decades. Hidden, released on Black Truffle, continues this approach, relying on minimal shifts and extended arcs of tension. The two pieces, each running 17 minutes, are less concerned with musical development than with perception itself: attention, habituation, irritation.
Hidden I establishes its material quickly – clicking sounds, the vibration of a mobile phone, fragmented utterances, »ha«s and »ho«s – and then begins to subtly shift, distort and reweight these elements. The music feels demanding because it offers little in the way of support, yet constantly introduces small changes.
Hidden II opens up the sonic space, becoming more rhythmic and almost melodic. Handclaps, bells, isolated tones from flute and electric guitar appear and disappear again. Here, too, tension does not arise from dramaturgy, but from minimal deviations within repetition.
Hidden is not an album for casual listening. It requires sustained attention – precisely because it works with such restraint. The small changes make all the difference. Richard Youngs’ music seems simple until one realises how profoundly it plays with perception.
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