Musical destructionism used to be the domain of acerbic
power-electronic musicians and deadpan no-wave trouble makers, but
Secret Secrets have shed the nihilism even as they tear it all down.
The sparsely combined ideas on the duo's debut album, Chiromagica - a
morphing synth thrum, a hard-nosed but fluid drum line, a singular
bass note plucked at varying intervals, a sitar-sounding guitar, an
Ono-esque stack of repeated vocals - seek relationships other than
mere harmony, perpetually building new moments even within repetition,
but keeping the listener engaged with a staggered but rolling pulse
and tantric energy.
The true mission of the band, featuring Shana Palmer on
sampler/pedals/electronics/vocals and Melissa Moore on guitar and
drums, is more generative, using contemporary and avant-garde musical
tools and processes to generate something meditative yet disorienting,
akin to Sufi Dervish whirling. This is not purely an ecstatic rite,
though - menacing and churning threads appear as Moore's drumming
regularly turns from tribal to martial, Palmer's haunting chants and
siren-like croons shift to sinister wails and even sneering screams,
and jarring shards of cymbals, fuzzed-out industrial squall, and
reality-crushing bass frequencies bubble up from the warm, throbbing
drone.
