First, there's a swell. The volume and intensity builds, layering upon itself.
Eventually, the tension is too much, and it breaks into a pummeling and gorgeous flurry of activity, a wall of sound, and a crescendo.
Then, there's almost nothing. It all drops back to a calm yet eerie near-silence, the tide delicately receding, only to build slowly again.
Last month saw the release of the group's fourth album Sines, their first record in eight years.
And tonight, the Hawkes Bay trio performs at Chick's Hotel. Let's call it a build. One reason for the delay, that eerie silence, is purely bizarre.
By coincidence, following their breakthrough album Solace (2006) - which saw them tour with the likes of Tool and Damo Suzuki, frontman for seminal German psychedelic krautrock band Can - all the members of the band suffered debilitating hand injuries.
An elongated ulna bone, a broken wrist, and several severed tendons from a pumpkin cutting accident, saw members unable to play at any given time.
Thankfully, as they say, good things take time, and great albums, well they might just take eight years.
Sines is as epic as ever. Lead single Blind Them With Science works that quiet-loud-quiet formula beautifully, and it's a journey of lush guitars and cascades of noise.
Welcome back, Jakob. Sines is available now from flyingout.co.nz.
JUNGLE JUICE
Australian jungle blues musician C.W. Stoneking wraps up his New Zealand tour this weekend, performing at the storied Coronation Hall, in Maori Hill, tonight.
Stoneking is touring in support of his new album of Gon' Boogaloo, released in October.
It's his first full-length album since 2008, and maintains the primitive blues, African rhythms, and mythic, juiced-up '20s and '30s storytelling and showmanship of his acclaimed previous record Jungle Blues.
The album was recorded live in two days, without any overdubs or edits, using only two microphones, into a two-track Ampex 351 -inch tape machine out of Capitol Records.
In support, local musicians Terry Ebeling (Ebeling Brothers, Whirling Eddys, Oxo Cubans), and Erin Morton (Delgirl) will perform their debut show together.
Using voices, guitars, double bass, trumpet, harp and banjo, the duo will showcase simple and swampy roots music.
WORDS AND MUSIC
Hip-hop artist Tourettes, aka Dominic Hoey, is bringing his acclaimed mix of beats, poetry, and nonsense to the South Island this week, with Auckland singer Matthew Parslee Crawley (The Cosbys, The Conjurors) in tow.
Hoey will perform honest, dark, and hilarious raps and poems about topics including the difficulties of having Skype sex in Abu Dhabi as the call to prayer rings out across the city, the lukewarm fantasies and absurd nature of capitalism, working class pride, and the cancer of convenience.
Crawley, who Hoey describes as ''angel voiced'', will perform some of his older songs in support, and provide emotional back up on some Tourettes tunes.
The two have previously collaborated on the song World War 3 from Hoey's 2011 album Tiger Belly.
Who said you can't party to misery?
SILVER SCREEN
As part of their series of presentations at the Havana Lounge theatre, next Wednesday record store Portil will screen Sheen of Gold, the excellent documentary about New Zealand band The Skeptics, from director Simon Ogston.
Apart from providing a unique insight into the band, the film also very neatly interweaves an expose of life in small-town New Zealand as well the big issues of life, love and (sadly) death.
The film initially premiered at the 2013 New Zealand International Film Festival.
