The Hemlock Ernst partnership came about after Herring did a feature for the Beans album, Venga, and provided an opportunity to work outside of established styles. “After we did the song and the record came out, Beans hit me back and said he thought I should do a full project with Icky,” Herring explains. “He thought that I really needed to challenge myself, that it would bring something out in me. Beans and his group Anti-Pop Consortium were and are heroes of mine. ‘Tragic Epilogue’ by APC is one of the most influential records in my life. To get that kind of attention and push from Beans was huge, but I didn’t know how I felt about the idea at the time. I saw it as exactly that, a challenge.”

A variety of collaborators join to make this challenge a little easier, with Fatboi Sharif, Egyptian Lover and aforementioned Beans all lending their talents across the record. Latest single ‘Remains’ see EUCLID of Armand Hammer join the fray, a track of cold, dystopic beats which highlights both the intensity and lonely weight of Herring’s delivery, as well as the nocturnal atmosphere in which it moves. “It’s foolish attempting to paint the night as anything more than the absence of light,” the opening lines suggest, but Hemlock Ernst is taking you by the hand to lead you through all the same.

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Since the release of the album, Erased Tapes have been sharing a series of reworked songs as standalone singles, with the likes of Matthew Herbert and William Basinski reimaging Hatis Nori tracks. The label connected with producer Preservation (Mos Def, RZA, MF Doom) while he was living in Hong Kong to work on his album Eastern Medicine Western Illness, and he set out with the intention of preserving Hatis Noit’s singular vocal style while “bridg[ing] sonic time.” Fat Possum duo Armand Hammer were enlisted too, and their version of ‘Jomon’ brings two cultures together with searing power. “It’s such a miracle to me,” Haiti Noit explains, “that, thanks to Preservation and his powerful rework, Armand Hammer could connect this energy back to their own bold and beautiful culture and history on the other side of the globe. I could not stop the tears.”

Aura is out now via Erased Tapes and available from Bandcamp.

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