An early dose of salvation delivered to us for the new year…Golden Hours are back with ‘Beyond Wires’, following up 2023s self-titled debut…and they’re back with a lush evocative masterpiece, once more on Fuzz Club records. The latest offering is as dark and poetic as you’d expect given the previous release and the history and previous form of the band members , but this one seems even more direct and powerful. It’s one of those rare records where every track sounds like a single (so I’m not going to describe each one – you need to hear them!) and each instrument seems in the spotlight at different times.
I confess to being a bit bass-obsessed so I’m always listening out for it but it would be miraculous if a sweeter, more satisfying bass sound makes it to vinyl all year – often a fat, threatening low-end rumble and at others nimbly lurking and snaking around the drums – the way the two interact is a big feature of the album. The twin guitars blaze and fuzz in epic style making the whole thing sound beautiful and grand and noisy….
The vocals are taken in turns and shared equally between Hakon (guitar) and Wim (bass); both have deep rich baritones that work perfectly with the widescreen cinematic lyrics; shadowy tales and distressed anthems – ragged and velvety in turns, portraying a twilit world of love, loss and the strange drama of existence lit up by flashes of hope and light, a strung out modern blues, hymns of fuzz and reverb. The whole set manifests a resigned or questioning melancholy but at times a venomous menacing undercurrent takes over
No single genre tag fits for this record as there is a pure and timeless feel to it, and although there’s certainly an early 80s post punk feel and sound – dark, driving and enigmatic – there are other, less straightforward elements lurking, little unexpected cracks and bursts of sound and atmosphere that seem to crawl out from the storm and set this apart from anything obvious and predictable. It will be no surprise to more gothic leaning listeners that this rich brooding soundscape, which to non-believers might appear too desolate, can be an uplifting and life affirming experience, and that’s certainly how this feels to me.
The Golden Hours set at Fuzz Club Eindhoven a few years ago was one of the highlights of the weekend for me and I pray they’ll be back on the road in 26. While we wait for that I highly recommend losing yourself and finding yourself with a copy of ‘Beyond Wires’ – it’s a truly heroic album.
Gary Powell, January 2026
Gary Powell
A dub & reggae obsessed punk rocker with a dark history in the goth underworld and European horror films...now hacking through the psychedelic jungle and searching for new musical highs... Leads a secret voodoo cult in the Dorset countryside if you're ever in the area...
