PREMIERE: Cork artist Kineograph structures chaos on his new LP Capricorn

Mark Waldron-Hyden — AKA Kineograph — has a penchant for hiding sublime, catchy melodies under soundscapes that at first sound like random noises, before they take shape as they play out.

Waldron-Hyden dropped the genre-hopping Future Life Continuity in 2020. Today he returns under the alias Kineograph with Capricorn — an LP full of new songs to confuse and delight listeners.

The new album is a monolith of organised chaos. Few Irish artists are creating music that is as unique as Kineograph is — and fewer still manage to make it stick in your ears. ‘I CAN SEE 3 PEOPLE’ is the epitome of his unique talent.

The track begins with sporadic beeps before a thumping bass guitar sets the foundation. The guitar chords alternate between dissonant and ethereal in a disorienting but entrancing way. Drums shape the sprawling pit of sound with a beautifully crisp snare as the song begins to emerge.

The track sounds misshapen, but there is a method to Kineograph’s madness. A Beatlesque guitar seems to be the focal point of the track as it is almost enveloped by beeps and bleeps. A twinkling piano melody alights atop the morphing soundscape beneath as the most obvious hook in the song.

Kineograph’s vocals here are one of the most intriguing aspects of the track. He feels like an omnipresent figure, presiding over the song. The multi-instrumentalist’s voice cuts through the track like a PA announcement, incoherent and muffled — but urgent.

‘I CAN SEE 3 PEOPLE’ is one of the many triumphs on the 7-track LP. It’s an especially impressive record as Waldron-Hyden recorded, mixed and mastered the entire project.

All instruments and sounds on Capricorn were laid down by Kineograph in his home studio in the Nagle mountains in Cork. He undertook the post-recording process in his studio Lisbon where he recently relocated.

When discussing the LP, Kineograph said:

“The album came about as a continuation from Future Life Continuity and as time went on it began to grow into its own separate thing,” said Waldron-Hyden.

“I wanted to take a traditional band backline and see what I could make with it. I got really into bossa nova and samba rhythms and chords. This became the basis for the sonic palette of the album.”

Capricorn is Kineograph’s latest musical evolution — but he has retained the core elements that set him apart.

“The music and art I make has evolved much over the years,” he said. “However, through this evolution, I have held onto some aspects of my art as well as collecting new practices along the way. I enjoy free music. Music that will involve the spontaneous, the improvised and the erratic.”

Creating the album has been a challenge for the Cork artist who feared he was incapable of playing “band” music solo before making the record:

“I wanted to challenge myself in this regard as I always had a complex about not being able to play ‘band’ music by myself and wanted to make this the goal of this album.”

Listen to Capricorn below.