“a pleasurable release of cosmic dross replete with melody-melting odes” - NARC MAGAZINE
“Playful and frenetic” - LOUDER THAN WAR
“Intergalactic sensations” - BUZZ MAGAZINE
ATTENTION HUMANS!
‘Alpha Test 4’, the new album from Intergalactic prog-ravers HENGE is now streaming everywhere.
Tune in here: https://ffm.to/henge-alphatestfour
The band’s third album offers a fresh collection of their definitive “cosmic dross” compositions. Receiving early acclaim, NARC Magazine championed the record’s “stimulating extra-terrestrial sounds” (⅘), while Buzz Magazine praised the latest collection as “eco-centric free party dance-music… absolutely worth your time”.
Side A of ‘Alpha Test 4’ contains six blistering, energetic tracks designed to stimulate and educate - each one taking the listener on a brief, adventurous musical encounter beyond their wildest imagination. It features the recent single “Get A Wriggle On”, a joyous electro/prog banger calling for immediate action to tackle the climate crisis looming over Earth, along with a glitchy vignette about malfunctioning robots called “Self Repair Protocol”. Side A also contains squelching paeans for the virtue of discovery, both in the galaxy (“Wanderlust”) and the mind (“Altered State”), as well as a trippy tribute to one of the most resilient creatures known to humans, “Tardigrades”.
The mind-expanding Side B, meanwhile, sees HENGE collate a batch of cosmic, melody-melting epics. Listeners will be taken on a psychedelic journey through the arpeggiated radiations of “Ra” to the Space Rock salute of Asteroid, arriving at the love letter to Earth that is “First Encounter”.
Zpor, front-being of HENGE, explains of the new album:
"Alpha Test 4 is our third Planet Earth LP release. With each record we have sought to fine tune our extraterrestrial sounds for human ears, optimising these alien frequencies in order to more effectively access the pleasure sensors in the Sapien brain.
“We believe that the wisest lifeforms are always open to new learning, and we have been conducting our own studies on the human beings that we've encountered on Earth so far.
“We have discovered that exposure to this alien music can have a profound effect on the human nervous system, and have recorded an average increase of 72% in the happiness levels of human specimens attending our experiments."
Produced with Jim Spencer (New Order, Black Grape) and mastered at Abbey Road by Frank Arkwright (Arcade Fire, Joy Division, Blur), ‘Alpha Test 4' is available on Cosmic Dross Records from today.
Since they landed on Earth seven years ago, HENGE have been delighting audiences across the UK and Europe. Their music - known as “Cosmic Dross" - escapes definition, but occupies a space between rave and prog rock that nobody knew existed - going ‘where no band has gone before’. Ultimately, HENGE spread a message of hope that leaves audiences feeling amused and uplifted in equal measure.
Their unique debut album “Attention Earth!” was released in 2018, followed by 2020’s ‘ExoKosm’, which earned media support from the likes of BBC6 Music, PROG Magazine, Louder Than War and Buzz Magazine.
With a reputation for scintillating live performances, HENGE have won over audiences across the globe at festivals such as Glastonbury, Boomtown, Bluedot, Shambala, Beatherder, Fusion (DE), Down The Rabbit Hole (NL), Jungle Love (AU) and more - receiving the award for ‘Best Live Act’ at the Independent Festival Awards in the process.
Limbering up for an extensive UK tour this Autumn, catch the band performing cuts from ‘Alpha Test 4’ and more at a series of evening gigs, matinee performances, and after-parties, as follows:
HENGE - UK TOUR 2023
22/09 The Rockin Chair, Wrexham
23/09 Lost Horizon, Bristol (+ matinee)
24/09 The Cornish Bank, Falmouth
26/09 The Phoenix, Exeter
27/09 South Street, Reading
28/09 Electric Ballroom, London
29/09 Joiners, Southampton
30/09 Concorde2, Brighton
04/10 Gulbenkian Arts Centre, Canterbury
06/10 Kanteena, Lancaster (+ afterparty)
07/10 Foxlowe Arts Centre, Leek (+ matinee)
11/10 Hare and Hounds, Birmingham
12/10 Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
13/10 Esquires, Bedford
14/10 Club 85, Hitchin
18/10 St Stephen's Church, Ipswich UK
19/10 02 Academy, Leicester
20/10 Cobalt, Newcastle
21/10 Brewery Arts, Kendal (+ matinee)
26/10 Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh
27/10 Stereo, Glasgow
01/11 Yellow Arch, Sheffield
02/11 The Crescent, York
03/11 The Brudenell, Leeds
04/11 Band on the Wall, Manchester (+ matinee)
10/11 24 Kitchen Street, Liverpool
Support from: Dogshow - all dates.
Tickets on sale now - here:
