Go backstage with The Music and receive FREE:

  • Exclusive members-only editorial, charts
  • Our subscriber-only newsletter
  • Members only competitions to win tickets, experiences and more
  • Access to our street press archives
  • First access to our exclusive limited edition vinyl variants

Thank you for being a part of our community! Enter your email address as verification and you'll be taken backstage right away.

Please ensure that you provide a valid email address.

Album Review: Bibio - Phantom Brickworks

StarStarStarHalf Star

"It's hard not to describe 'Phantom Brickworks' as 'haunted'."

More Bibio Bibio

Here's an abrupt about-face; after turning stomachs with the saccharine pop of A Mineral Love, this speedy follow-up features "mostly improvised" ambient headspace clearers.

No songs, no beats, just long, sleepy drones and very simple melodies. It's hard not to describe Phantom Brickworks as "haunted", as each part evolves slowly revealing hidden depths. It'd be tempting to write this off as a potboiler in between major projects, but there are subtle undercurrents of emotion that gently reel in the patient listener, not least on the melancholic Capel Celyn.