NOAH GUNDERSEN

White Noise (Cooking Vinyl)

White Noise is an album about being an artist, or rather, Noel Gunderson’s experience of being an artist living within a maelstrom of emotional extremes. Something of a sensory record, it uses a surrealist combination of electronica and alt-rock à la Radiohead to convey emotional scenarios. Gunderson’s pop-like compositions are at their strongest when grounded in rock, while drifting through walls of shoegaze, light grunge and dark, lilting minimalist piano with synthesised strings, creating an engrossing atmosphere that ebbs and flows through highs and lows and only falls apart when he opts out for his voice and an acoustic guitar. Structurally, White Noise is a bit of a meandering mess that rolls on for far too long, even though it feels like there are four end points throughout. Peter Zalunzy