Haken’s Richard Henshell continues to tread the solo path in the first of a trio of EPs.

Release Date: 7th June 2024

Label: Independent

Format: digital

Not averse to treading the solo path or deviating slightly from the day job in Haken, Richard Henshell sets loose the first of three EPs that will form the Mu collection.

Four tracks spread across twenty and a bit minutes and explore a wide cascade of stylings. The apple doesn’t fall too far from in terms of the technical craft that Richard displays, yet there’s little of the intensely devastating Prog Metal that more often than not forms the basis of the Haken sound. Having said that, what else are solo projects for if not to explore alternative areas and the first volume of Mu does exactly that.

Building on 2019’s ambitious debut solo album, entitled The Cocoon, the polyrhythmic passages and delicate minimalistic interludes give way to an exploration for his love for jazz-tinged, intricate instrumental music.  Mu sees Richard is joined by drummer Lang Zhao and saxophonist Adam Carillio, while he handles guitar, bass & keyboard duties. They make up a power trio from another dimension.

Listening to Mu and watching Richard’s videos feels like a guitar tutorial or masterclass. He highlights the playing of Lang Zhao on Yang which sets the tone of the interesting rhythmic variations which excite and inspire him to stretch into new territories. With this track and Granular which follows, the mood shifts from cool and relaxed, where the guitar drips and trickles over the spaces, bringing to mind a watercourse whose journey undulates with rushing torrents and pools of relaxation.

Less jazzy is Land Aliens. A much more relaxed affair, the gentility of the atmospheric opening passage (notes of Jimmy Page’s White Summer at one or two points?) is a contrast to the generally busy air that the trio cook up.

Mu itself combines angular, stop.start passages and perhaps the most jazzy of the jazzy parts of the EP, the horn sounding part maybe patched in from the keyboard option. Playing out over seven minutes, there’s a sense of improv about this one, great fun likely being ha din the construction and creation of this piece. Needless to say, the interest is piqued for the next two installments.

Meanwhile, here’s Yang:

Richard Henshell online: Facebook / Instagram

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