A year ago or so, Silk arrived as one of those side projects that that I just got right away. If you’ve been following along here on Static Sounds Club, you’ll already know Michael Smyth first caught my attention through Virgins, a band I rated so highly I ended up naming them my album of the year in 2024. When Smyth first introduced Silk through the premiere of ‘Faze’, the project came through as denser, more inward and more consumed by volume than his previous work, while still holding tight to melody and emotional weight. That first taste felt like an opening statement. Since then each new release has added another piece to the picture, and now with ‘Auralux’ we’re hearing Silk stretch further again, with the full mini album waiting just ahead. Rest assured, I’ll be reviewing that in full very soon.
Smyth has spoken very clearly about what drives this project.
“There is no beauty in perfection, it feels fake and manufactured to me. I want the record to feel real, so this is the sound of visceral self expression.”
You can hear that instinct all through ‘Auralux’. This is music made by one person taking full control of the writing, playing and recording, and you feel that intimacy straight away. The song has scale, force and sheer physical heft, yet it still feels personal, as if every layer has been pushed into place by hand rather than polished into submission.
What strikes you first is the way the guitars arrive in numbers. They do not simply open the song, they spread across it. The opening seconds feel glazed in speckled light, with shimmering lines stacking over one another until the whole thing starts to glow. Then the pressure builds. The drums come in huge. The fuzz thickens. The whole track swells into something full bodied and physical. You feel the force of the arrangement in your chest it’s wild.
In the verses, the guitars and vocals seem to answer one another call and response style, each phrase met by another surge of texture or melody. It gives the song dynamics without making it feel restless. The vocal sits low in the mix, almost folded into the body of the track, which is how shoegazers do it. Makes you listen harder. Then the chorus opens up and Silk goes all in. Layers of fuzz pile upward, dreamy lead lines flash through the distortion, and the whole thing seems to billow around Smyth’s voice. It is a huge moment, but it never loses its sense of feeling.
You can hear the blood, sweat and tears in the production. This sort of music lives or dies on atmosphere, and Smyth knows exactly how much to give each part. The reverse reverbs and dense layers never feel decorative. They help shape the song’s emotional climate. The opening shimmer, the dense middle weight, the way the chorus seems to rise up in sheets, all of it serves the feeling of the track. You can hear why Silk has been building such strong momentum across the past year.
Silk continue to build something special here. ‘Auralux’ gives you shimmer, weight, grief, release and that glorious moment where melody and noise become inseparable. It feels like a song made with total belief in the emotional power of volume. You can hear that throughout. You can also hear the hurt in it. Most of all, you can hear Silk coming into focus through Auralux.
Auralux will be released via Blowtorch Records and Shoredive Records. You can check out the singles over on the Silk Bandcamp page.
You can follow Silk on social media here…
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