Now that the notoriously fractious Sandwell District are defunct (or, at the very least, hibernating), constituent member Juan ‘Silent Servant’ Mendez has been crafting his debut solo full-length. 

Dominick Fernow (aka Prurient) has just released Negative Fascination (aka, er, prurience) on his Hospital Productions imprint. Currently limited to 1000 vinyl copies (with CD and cassette versions to follow), the record features seven new compositions, and is executive produced by fellow Sandwell District dweller Regis.

Pitchfork point towards a stream of Side B opener ‘Temptation & Desire’. It’s a marl grey opener, characterised by spartan percussion work and squalls of feedback. It’s also heavy on Mendez’s familiar post-punk touchstones: mumbled hoodoos drift in and out of earshot, and the ghost of Martin Hannett haunts the poleaxe drum programming. Not easy listening, for sure, but definitely a beguiling taste of one of our most eagerly awaited albums of the year.

Mendez, it should noted has also been putting in time with mardy gloom-pop outfit Tropic Of Cancer, who returned with Permissions Of Love earlier this year; you can read our face-to-face with the project’s Camella Lobo here.