Minced Oath: Supervene review – Slow, spooky tunes with a hint of mischief

A wearer of many hats who tends to favour stoking several sonic projects simultaneously, Dunk Murphy released an album earlier in 2020 under his Sunken Foal moniker called Hexose. His Minced Oath project put out an album called Supersede in 2017, which he now follows up with a collection of soundscapes created in response to a series of aerial photographs by David Cleary, one of which adorns the beautiful and eye-catching cover of Supervene.

While Hexose drew from what he described as the “occult language of the synthesiser”, Minced Oath appears to be all about slow, spooky and daring percussion. Incidentally, a minced oath is a euphemistic expression formed by replacing a term that could be deemed profane, blasphemous or taboo. For example, the common swapping of “God” with “gosh”.

The opening track, Ancestral Let Down, sets the scene for Murphy’s idiosyncratic and daring journey. Supervene contains some evocative, nostalgic and mischievous titles: COYBIG, Switzer’s Window and the irresistible The Nettle and the Damage Done. The closing salvo, Use the Bones as Handles, features some of the most original and daring percussion you’ll hear anywhere, while also possessing a pleasing pop sensibility.

Whatever Dunk Murphy has planned next is anybody’s guess, but rest assured that one of Ireland’s most prolific producers is never going to go down any predictable route, or do anything by numbers.