James McKeown has a knack for making the kind of music which drops you into another world. As Hawksmoor, his approach is both organic and synthetic. Analog machines breathing in wheezing syncopation, eliciting both cosmic sentiments and ancient mysteries found in a part of nature we have yet to unlock. On Hawksmoor’s latest, the eerie and beautiful Yclept Thorn, he keeps the moods dialed in urgency and subdued tension. As the title track hints at, there’s a tribal, medieval quality here; from organic percussion to the ethereal electronics, opening portals to villages frozen in time and ancient rural mystery, Yclept Thorn is a masterclass in dark folk storytelling”. -J Hubner(Complex Distractions) credits released July 17, 2026 Hark, still thy tongue! Lo! this music thou hearest hath been wrought through thee cunning contrivances born of a mortal mind. Employed were many dark enchantments and magicks. A bewitched device, thee EP-1320, voyaged o’er stormy seas from thee distant Nordic realms, passing from the hands of eldritch wizards into thee grasp of a learned Philosopher, Occultist, Alchemist, and master of dreadly sonic rites, who amongst mortals is known by thee name of James McKeown. Long did he labour at his mystic craft, and from such toil sprang forth these compositions—sounds whispered to bring madness and malady unto feeble minds ill-prepared for such arcane utterances. Further alchemical transmutations and aural divinations were wrought upon these dark ballads by Sir Anthony Ryan, bearer of thee noble sigil of Red Red Paw. The fair and shining manuscript, a work of great illumination, is the sacred toil of the wise Hermetic Monk Richard Wells. May his quill ne’er dull, and may his inkwell runneth ever o’er. The Honourable Bard Sir Thomas McDowell doth serve as keeper and herald of these songs and ballads, that they may reach the ears of the common folk.