Hupo is a force to be reckoned with in the instrumental rock scene. The band is from Xi’an, China, where they have established their distinct musical voice since 2010. They do this by combining the awe-inspiring energy of post-rock, the rhythmic beats of krautrock, and the spacious ambiance of ambient/experimental music to create a truly immersive experience that fuses ancient cultural perspectives with modern artistry. On June 14, Hupo unleashed their new eight-track masterpiece “A Few Sparks”. Let us peel back the layers and dive into what this record offers us.
The first song in the album is “Melodic Odyssey,” and it starts with a soft and glowing sound of feedback that slowly turns into the rhythmic beat of a clock ticking in an old cathedral. This orchestral track draws attention without the need for any lyrics. This track, to me, represents the story of exploration and travel and serves as a great introduction to the music of the entire record. It is really an odyssey, taking listeners through various highs and lows. The musical side of the song presents Hupo performing melodic and warm basslines combined with percussion that creates a solid structure and allows guitar melodies to come across with clear precision.
The beginning of “Off The String” features an explosive, percussive strum of the muted strings of the guitar that sets the song off at a fast pace, which is characterized by groovy beats and complex fills. The song is a rhythm exercise in freedom, where Hupo strips the initial tension and creates music that moves at a new pace and becomes nimble. What makes Hupo’s musicality stand out in this track is the acrobatic percussion and fascinating harmonies that are jangly and at the same time spontaneous and planned. Listening to “Off The String”, you can literally feel the impact of the song as the drums and angular guitar play interact infectiously.
The song “Waterweeds” starts with the gentle slide sound of a guitar, which symbolizes the way waterweeds sway underwater as they get swept away by the gentle rhythm of the water in the river. The persistence of the guitar melody, to me, seems like an exploration of persistence and is a look into what can be achieved and how one can persist through the darkness in one’s life. There is persistence in the instrumentation of the song, where the rhythm section of the song plays consistently like the tidal waves of the water.
The introduction for “A Thousand Hills” features an expansive drone sound that eventually evolves into a pristine acoustic guitar melody, reminiscent of the expansive frontiers of northwestern China. This song draws inspiration from the poetry of Li Bai, with its theme rooted in the ideas of distance, history, and the beauty of nature. The musician’s mastery at fusing traditional tones with post-rock sounds becomes evident in this song. Through “A Thousand Hills”, the listener gets a sense of infinity, as the song strikes the listener with the weight of history and magnitude, which is both ageless and fresh.
“Millet Fields” begins with a sudden burst of rhythmic sound from light percussion, followed immediately by a swirl of otherworldly, sunlike synth pads and a funky beat. The key concept in this piece is that of the fragility of transformation, which suggests that the process of change can be beautiful and psychedelic. Hupo uses complex guitar arrangements that flow around the main theme, making everything integral to the overall arrangement. The “Millet Fields” arrangement makes you feel part of an evolving world connected to the album’s main goal of courageous creation.
“Everynight Unending” begins with an ominous bass line that gradually develops into an intricate audio collage made up of reverberating guitar sounds and ambient cinema-like music. The underlying theme is about infinity and eternal moments, as well as the cyclic nature of memories. Hupo meanders around a certain haunting theme, varying the level of intensity throughout the performance. It is a truly wonderful work of audio art, one that goes on to become a completely mind-blowing experience for the listener’s ears.
Beautiful, clean acoustic chord progressions characterize the beginning of the composition ‘Soulstep Highland’, with an electric guitar following stealthily in the background.” This piece of music is used as an opening meditation for the closing part of the album, shifting from introspection to sudden enlightenment. The percussion in this composition is deliberate and slow motion, at times evolving into massive, funky blocks of rhythm. This particular work is very interesting in terms of its psychedelic elements, as the articulation of the flute and saxophone makes the music sound otherworldly and highly personal.
In the concluding piece, “West of Taibai”, one encounters the persistent clicking of a wooden percussion instrument at first before being drawn into a thundering, aggressive bass line along with experimental guitar sounds. This is an epic twelve-minute journey that compels the audience to wrestle with the climactic finish of the album. The music is mesmerizing, captivating, and highly memorable, displaying an intense krautrock style that compels the listener into complete absorption. West of Taibai leaves you spent most enjoyably, compelling you to replay the entire album again in order to experience the magic of the world created by Hupo.
“A Few Sparks” is an album that marks the point at which Hupo has made one of those startling transformations that other bands can only hope for. Instead of leaning back into their success through the cinematic post-rock music that first brought them into the limelight, Hupo went on a journey of two years of reconstruction that involved essentially destroying themselves to start anew. Through combining the rhythmic drive of krautrock, the psychedelic journeying, the expansive world of ambient music, and the rugged landscape of Northwest China, Hupo created a living record. All the movements from this record have haunting beauty through the honest appreciation for the culture of Hupo. It is quite a rare phenomenon when one encounters instrumental music that has the ability to convey messages without any lyrics but so intensely; not only did the music of Hupo touch me, it also made me aware of those aspects of my own story that were impossible to formulate into words before. To have an opportunity to see how bold, sincere, and fearless the artist can be is truly rewarding. Hupo is not only creating music; they create something absolutely unique and new, and I feel grateful for that trip. I cannot wait until the next step on the horizon is taken.
Stream the “A Few Sparks” album on Spotify
Follow Hupo here and his socials: Facebook, Bandcamp, YouTube
