Hex Undone Weaves a Dark Spell with Their Latest Release: The Crow Flies

​Hex Undone's debut album, The Crow Flies, released in early 2024, offers a compelling blend of atmospheric textures and emotive songwriting. If you’re into the likes of M83, Daughter, or early Mogwai—but want something grounded in East Midlands overcast charm—Hex Undone should be firmly on your radar.

The band shrewdly uploaded 3 of the album's songs to Spotify and kept the album for online on Bandcamp!

I reviewed the three songs currently up on Spotify:

The Crow Flies album has incredible variation; from slower, relaxing songs like its title song, to more upbeat, catchy tunes such as A Good Way: showcasing the band's ability to craft moody, introspective soundscapes that resonate deeply with listeners.​

The album has garnered attention on platforms like Bandcamp, where it's featured in multiple user collections, indicating a growing appreciation within the indie and alternative music communities. Additionally, the band's presence on Apple Music highlights their expanding reach and the positive reception of their work.

For fans of ambient rock and emotionally charged melodies, The Crow Flies serves as a promising introduction to Hex Undone's artistic vision. The album's rich instrumentation and heartfelt lyrics suggest a band poised and ready to make a significant impact in the music scene.​ Ship in a Bottle, the longest track on the album and perhaps the most impressive musically, manages to bypass every expectation anyone could have for these tracks and for Hex Undone as an emerging artist in the Nottingham Music scene.

Overall, The Crow Flies is a quietly powerful debut. Hex Undone shows phenomenal restraint and maturity in their songwriting, preferring atmosphere over theatrics and nuance over noise. This album isn’t about immediate gratification or indulgence—it’s about slow unfolding, about sitting with feelings that are hard to name and overcoming strong, overwhelming emotion. And in that, it is a tremendous success.

I had a little interview with Fiachra shanks of Hex Undone to get more insight to the album:

Is there a particular track on the album that holds significance to you as a band? Why is this?

Not really, they all have a reason to be there. Saying that, however, Blue By Accident was written the day an old friend died in hospital in Amsterdam. Mic Christopher was a legendary musical force in the city of my birth, Dublin, and his loss was a huge event for pretty much everyone I know back home. In 2001 Mic was on tour supporting The Waterboys and fell down a couple of stone steps after the gig one night, he hit his head and was in a coma for several days and passed away during a gig we held in support of him and his family in Vicar St, Dublin. After hearing the news the next day, the song just fell out fully formed, plucked from the air in about ten minutes. 

Who are the biggest influences for the sound of the crow flies?

The Devil, The Goddess Diana, Family, Enemies, Bugs Bunny, Oscar Wilde, Ursula le Guin and the ancient gods of Rock’n’Roll

Can you describe your musical process when it came to writing and recording this album please?

The songs on the album have almost all been around for quite a while and represent many years of writing and not recording them. The name Hex Undone means a curse being lifted, and in many ways for me personally that is what this band is, a curse being lifted. For most of my life I have struggled to find the band that could do this with me, and give these songs the life and breath that they deserved. I guess I also struggled to find the confidence and belief to actually make this band a reality. Sean McElroy (bass) and Ceri Howells (drums) have given these songs (and many more to come) a voice and a structure that has allowed them, and me, to flourish. We recorded the record with Russ Clark here in Nottingham. Russ is an incredibly talented recording engineer and he made the process fluid and easy. His instincts and understanding of what we were doing were really important in achieving the sound and atmospheres that we wanted. 

Is there anything new in the pipeline for you guys? Any new music or upcoming gigs?

Hex Undone have been concentrating on recording another five or six songs in recent months. The idea at the moment is to re-release The Crow Flies with these new recordings as a full length album, and print actual vinyl. We need to hold it in our hands and hear the needle hit the groove.

We haven’t been out playing much lately, but intend to get on some stages this summer. We love playing in Nottingham but want to get out on the road and hit some other cities and countries.

You can explore the rest of the album's songs further and support the band through their Bandcamp page and their ​instagram.

Written by Holly Surguy