Described as ‘a soundtrack to our living experience’, The Film is an unstoppable combination of two different musical worlds.

Release Date: 25^th April 2025

Label: Thrill Jockey

Format: CD / Digital / LP

QUALITY LYRICISM

The Film is a collaborative album between American poet and musician Moor Mother and post-metal supergroup SUMAC. Through SUMAC’s dense and blistering instrumentation, as well as Moor Mother’s impactful and one-of-a-kind vocal presence, The Film entrances the listener into a world of intense catharsis.

The album opens with Scene 1, a track that greets us right off the bat with powerful vocals from Moor Mother. The lyrics, whilst sporadic and unpredictable, detail impacts of war and historical hatred in a vivid manor. The lyric “educated men on the balcony can’t see the shooter” is one example of the quality of the lyricism the song harnesses. Squealing, distorted guitars serve as a backdrop to the powerful spoken word.

Scene 2: The Run follows with a glitchy introduction of sweeping frequencies and noise which swarms the track. As the booming drum groove enters to help guide the noise, Moor Mother returns to the microphone. The repeated phrase of “I was running” hits harder and harder each time it is included through her captivating vocal presence. However, as the song truly erupts, guitarist Aaron Turner lends his voice to the song. His gruff vocals cut through the hypnotising groove perfectly. It’s a wild and unpredictable track that genuinely sounds like a horror movie.

The album continues strongly with Scene 4 being a true standout moment. The beautiful, almost angelic backing vocals from Sovie work as such a great expansion of the sound already set on the album. The track works as a breather between the untamed intensity that the rest of the album has in store.

UNTAMED INTENSITY

Following, we get what is possibly the most striking moment on the whole album, the track Camera. Opening with an unsettling sampled vocal introduction, the tone is set right away. Blistering blast beat drums spill over the rest of the track, sounding like a warped sound collage. Moor Mother’s repeated instructions of “get away” undeniably add to the unsettling nature of the song. It’s pure originality through and through and a moment I won’t be forgetting any time soon. The madness comes to a stop around its halfway point, where the warped guitar squirms like it’s living its last moments of life. The swarming ending of distortion and darkness is deeply effective and closes the track out masterfully.

The grand finale of the album is titled Scene 5: Breathing Fire. Its opening showcases another example of Moor Mothers poetic lyricism. “Seems like every time there’s a bomb, there’s a round of applause” shows this perfectly before launching into the tightest, hardest hitting groove of the entire album. Soaring guitars surround the song alongside the manic drums courtesy of Nick Yacyshyn. The moment is magnificent and genuinely beautiful. The restrained, final section feels like watching the smoke fade away following a blaze of fire. It works as a way to see the album out in a satisfying manor.

ONE OF A KIND

The Film is a one-of-a-kind album that amongst its intensity and noise, is purely cathartic. With lyricism that is as dense as the soundscapes created on the album, repeat listens must be had to truly delve into the records themes and sound.

Here’s Scene 1:

SUMAC:  Bandcamp / Instagram / Facebook

Moor Mother:  Bandcamp / Instagram / Facebook

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