Hüma Utku :: Dracones (Editions Mego)

Dracones is a raw, powerful collection of compositions, pulsing with intensity and depth. It’s not a journey for the faint of heart, but for those drawn to music that is both dark and hauntingly beautiful, it strikes a deep, resonant chord.

Gradually dissolving into a haze of static

Listening to and reviewing Hüma Utku Dracones is a powerful and dramatic experience. The acclaimed Turkish composer delves into her pregnancy and journey to motherhood with a haunting, immersive new album for Editions Mego, out April 4th. The audio-visual work is very expressive of darkness and gloom. “A World Between Worlds” opens with a deep acoustic drone and joined with ethereal vocal threads, somewhat operatic in tone. More drones move through and suffuse the song. These moments evoke the eerie feel of vintage movie clips, possibly from the 1950s. Midway through the track, the drone shifts, thickening into a deep, jarring bass that swells to an overwhelming, unsettling crescendo. It builds to a tense, foreboding peak before gradually fading into a soft, relentless wash of white noise. Then, the ethereal female operatic voices return, rising and swirling, their harmonies spiraling into a howling vortex of sound. The volume of the piece builds up and its bass drone turns into an industrial grunge loop; cycling off until the elements fragment and lapse into silence.

In “Here Be Dragons,” noise opens the piece. Silence is met with wavering, pulsing drones. These are joined with what sound like recorded sheets of metal that are wobbling. Volume increases as we hear what might be power tools, or maybe splintering wood, or both. The second half of the track is filled with chilling growls of a monstrous dragon, its voice whispering cryptic, menacing phrases. At times, it feels as though the music has morphed into an eerie nightmarish soundtrack. As the piece nears its end, the voice begins to fragment, distorting into harsh, jagged tones. In the final moments, there’s a faint impression that, beneath the monstrous growl, it might have once been a soft, human voice, now twisted beyond recognition.

In “Ayaz a,” the piece—once again—opens with a deep drone, which cycles on. The track resembles in some ways Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack to the new Dune series. Soft, classical-style female voices emerge, evoking a sense of air and lightness, though something about them stirs a deeper, more mysterious feeling. A delicate dialogue unfolds between steady drones and ethereal voices, as if they are conversing across a vast, invisible space. Slowly, the track transforms into a mournful, wailing drone that stretches on like a funeral dirge. The mournful melody lingers, gradually dissolving into a haze of static, as though the music itself fades into the void.

Dracones is a raw, powerful collection of compositions, pulsing with intensity and depth. It’s not a journey for the faint of heart, but for those drawn to music that is both dark and hauntingly beautiful, it strikes a deep, resonant chord.

Credits ::
All tracks composed, performed and recorded by Hüma Utku.
Buchla 100, vocals, cello, electric guitar performed by Hüma Utku.
“A World Between Worlds” features the ‘Lyraei’ built, played and recorded by Mihalis Shammas.
Buchla 100 recorded in EMS Stockholm 2022-2023.
Mixed by Enyang Urbiks.
Mastered by Heba Kadry, NYC.
Cover Artwork by Marco Ciceri.
Design by Tina Frank.

Dracones is available April 4th, 2025 on Editions Mego. [Bandcamp]