CLEAR VORTEX CHAMBER is musician/artist Alexander Tucker’s third release under the MICROCORPS banner. Its backstory is one of frustration and rebirth as Tucker scrapped an entire year’s worth of material before seeking peer advice and encouragement which led him into paths of new approaches and recording techniques. The album features collaborations with the likes of Justin K Broadrick, Phew, Regis, Karl D’Silva, JJOWDY, and Elvin Brandhi.
With such an unsure conception and the aforementioned collaborations, CLEAR VORTEX CHAMBER could have ended up confused, diluted and unsure yet instead what we hear is an album whose borders are distant and limitations non-existent. It is an album that lives and breathes thanks to its blending of the modular and the acoustic. Instruments like the cello, saxophone, bass guitar and the human voice bleed beautifully into the propulsive and tar-black mechanics. Befitting of an album created with a love of collaboration, none of the sounds live in conflict with each other and the other artists involved only lift higher the already magnificent music that Tucker has created. ‘FEDBACK 2’ is one+ minute of wonderful drone-sax courtesy of D’Silva, feedback guitar via Broadrick all married together in a harmony that others would struggle to find. The industrial grind of ‘ZONA’ featuring Regis on vocals is a deliciously trippy descent into the darkest of alleys, whilst ‘SANSU’ finds Tucker and Japanese artist Phew in a weirdly uplifting battle where melody, structure and chaos all fight for dominion yet never once does one outdo the other. The album closes with its finest track, ‘MALLETS’ where Tucker is joined by improvising lyricist Elvin Brandhi. This is an extremely powerful track that feels like the heir apparent to Crass’ Penis Envy, The Pop Group’s output or The Slits if they’d had modular synths instead of guitars and drums. ‘MALLETS’ is pure punk rock and opens up an interesting avenue for Tucker to follow if he should chose to.
Running through CLEAR VORTEX CHAMBER is JJOWDY’s ethereal lament’s and Tucker’s own voice (vocal and instrumental) which helps a listener navigate through this deep psychedelic undergrowth and helps hold all the disparate parts together. Tucker says CLEAR VORTEX CHAMBER “really tested me (Tucker), it was the outcome of a long period of hard lessons and harsh realities”. This toil and stress has paid off massively because this feels like Tucker’s truly great work under the MICROCORPS moniker. It is an album both for and against these times and it is an album that tells us that whatever avenue Tucker decides to go down, the results will always be thrilling, disturbing, hallucinogenic and deeply enjoyable.
CLEAR VORTEX CHAMBER will be released by Downwards 19/09/2025
All words by Simon Tucker
Alexander Tucker: Bluesky / Instagram / Bandcamp / Facebook
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