Two quick things today…

Hirons, so it says here is the project of British-American songwriter Jenny Hirons. “Hirons sings of childhood visions and capitalist superstructures, of speeding down narrow country lanes and gently disappearing into the ether like a dream fulfilled. Throughout five muted pop tracks recalling Sakamoto and Hosono, Bowie and Eno, Hirons conjures pop fantasy and confronts reality with bright-eyed steeliness. Her debut EP, Future Perfect is out November 7th via Western Vinyl and the first single Being The Cause has just gone online”.

Being The Cause sounds rather delightful to me, the pure art of pop, to brighten up anyone’s dire day…

Punching in the numbers, Lease out your liberty, Captive in time, Nonsense proliferates, Maddening invention, No sense in questions, Absence of mind…

studiohirons.com / Bandcamp / Links

And off on a different path, After 25 years, Ian Boddy and Chris Carter’s rare underground classic Caged returns, newly remastered and expanded…

“Ian Boddy and Chris Carter have announced details of the 25th anniversary edition of their underground classic Caged. Out on 28 November 2025 on The Grey Area of Mute, the album has been remastered and is expanded with two new compositions reimagined from the original audio files: ‘Claustrophobia’, reworked by Chris Carter, and Uncaged, reworked by Ian Boddy. Together, these new versions revisit Caged’s DNA from opposite ends of the spectrum, one tightening its grip, the other breaking free…”

Chris Carter says, “I can’t believe it’s been 25 years since we got together in each other’s studios and recorded Caged. It was such a laid-back process – no stresses or dramas, just a good time making some cool music with some classic gear. It’s been great revisiting that old material to come up with something new yet still ‘Caged’ for this Mute anniversary release. The new vinyl edition sounds even better than our original incarnation.”

Talking about the collaboration, Ian Boddy explains, “They say opposites attract and although Chris & I come from different ends of the electronic music spectrum Caged just gelled, and I think we created an album with a timeless quality to it.”
First released in 2000, Caged united two giants of experimental electronic music – Throbbing Gristle’s Chris Carter, a pioneering force in industrial and electronic music for over five decades, and Ian Boddy, composer, sound designer, analogue synth aficionado, and founder of the ambient/electronic label DiN. Having known each other casually for years, Boddy invited Carter to collaborate for his then-new label; Carter immediately agreed, and together they produced a work of startling power and textural depth. Across its shifting soundscapes, Caged plays with chance and paradox, where a whisper swells into a crescendo, a beat dissolves into a tone, and nothing remains still for long.

They say expectation is a prison. Here, being Caged is being free

Caged (25th Anniversary Edition) is out on The Grey Area of Mute on 28 November on limited edition double red vinyl, CD and digitally. Pre-order here