The Hull quartet push further into electronic territory with mixed results: textural highs and ambient drift.

Having emerged in 2020 with a hazy, self-titled debut steeped in shoegaze melancholy, Bdrmm have always favoured mood over immediacy. Microtonic doesn’t buck the trend—it deepens it. The Hull band, originally a bedroom project for frontman Ryan Smith, now fully embrace their electronic leanings, trading guitars for glitchy textures and a pulse borrowed from the darker corners of the dancefloor.

Opener Goit sets the tone, with Working Men’s Club’s Sydney Minsky Sargeant delivering cryptic spoken-word over a twitchy, industrial groove. There’s a sense of unease throughout, echoing the influence of Mark Fisher, whose writings haunt the album’s emotional architecture. When the band do go in for impact, they land it: Lake Disappointment and John on the Ceiling pulse with a clarity and drive that hint at a more club-friendly Bdrmm. Elsewhere, though, things feel more vaporous. Snares balances tension and release beautifully, but tracks like Sat in the Heat evaporate on contact—pleasant enough, but gone in a blink. Infinity Peaking, meanwhile, meanders through ambient abstraction without ever arriving anywhere meaningful. Still, even when the songs slip away, the atmosphere lingers. Microtonic may lack bite in places, but it succeeds in its immersive intent: a twilight listen for late-night wanderers.