Proximity by Unexpected Item

Proximity is Unexepected Item's Debut EP including tracks written in both New Zealand and The UK. This material has been played live in various configurations involving collaborators on drums and bass in both hemispheres.

Unexpected Item is the vehicle for Ben Hayman's post-punk derived guitar centric output and this release also features drumming from Daron Johns (AFC, This Sporting Life) and Brent McLachlan (Gordons, Sceptics, Bailter Space).

Minimalism and repetition along with drone and sparse vocals run through the tracks where guitars form layers and texture with bass lines giving the hooks. Drum machine and triggered digital delays feature on two tracks with looped acoustic drum kit segments and full studio drum kit recordings on others. 

Central to the ideas on this release is a theme of distance and perspective. Intention - explores the gap between what we mean to be understood and what is heard. Treble Space - includes a set of tones that represent the frequencies that Ben is missing due to hearing loss and points to the surface tension in life that this creates. Powers - is a heartfelt acknowledgement of others challenges faced with institutional immune systems. Relevance and References - celebrates the way we are shaped by the culture we choose to call home. Vivid Dreams - remembers the chasm between how you feel as you take to the stage unsure of whose side anyone is on and the reason that's driving you to do so. WNTL (What's Not To Love) - ruminates on that very thing. What would that be like?

Almost but not quite a band and featuring drummers in towns where it performs live UI is a post punk project of Ben Hayman’s formation. Bass lines triggered by drums and pedals merge with guitar layered as textures alongside voice. The central energy is that there is unfinished business with post punk and that the time is as right as it ever was for this angular approach to sound.

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