Mushroom's Patience - La Nueva Normalidad

Long-standing, vastly underrated Italian post-industrialists Mushroom's Patience debut for Quirlschlängle in what must surely be a dream-come-true union for label boss Christian Schoppik. We last talked about the group as a whole back in 2023 with Vrystaete's vinyl reissue of 2005 album Water, though it's probably singer J. Weber's (also of Novy Svet) collaboration with Schoppik on the most recent Läuten der Seele LP that's most prominent in the memory, and makes most sense of this reconnection here. Weber's instantly recognisable husky drawl, alternating between German and English, is all over La Nueva Normalidad, and dovetails perfectly with the multi-instrumental contributions of founder member Raf Cerroni and Niedowierzanie's Leo Maury. It's tricky to consider the group outside of the context of European post-industrial music, though it's also worth remembering that such a thing also encapsulates a broad church of sound and aesthetics. As such, La Nueva Normalidad is possessed of a mordant romanticism channelled through varying expressions of sunken darkwave, ambient drift and drone, past-midnight chamber song and olde worlde folk intimacy. It is as melodically accessible as it is ensconced within its own nighttime world, which really doubles down on the cult appeal of a group that seem so coquettishly alien. The overall performance is a little theatrical too, which only adds to the sense of melodrama and the impression of a collection of musicians that understand that how you say something is just as important as what you're saying. In that manner,  La Nueva Normalidad feels like a defining late-period statement.   
 
FFO: Läuten der Seele, Novy Svet, Beequeen, Vox Populi, Pelican Daughters