Dog in the Snow: Vanishing Lands review – A daring record from a lost hellhound

If Kate Bush has been an angelic spirit expatriated into our world, maybe Helen Brown is a demon from the same realm. The singer’s second album, Vanishing Lands, released under the moniker Dog In The Snow, boasts some of Bush’s dramatic flair. But Brown – actually from Brighton with Scottish and Thai heritage – is a different beast, combining Nietzsche-esque nihilism, urban worldbuilding, and her own grim sense of terror. The battering beat, jittery guitar lines and hard-angle synth changes that form the intense Dual Terror feel like a late-night drive down a foggy motorway. Another highlight comes in the ornate art pop of This Only City, which finds Brown isolated within the four walls of her own metropolitan dwelling, writhing under neon street lights. Not every track works as well: Icaria is sludgy to the point of being difficult to absorb. Still, this is a daring record from a lost hellhound in human form, dropped into an urban dystopia to remind us all that we’re doomed.