Alex Zhang Hungtai – ‘Orion/Mother’ album review: An unconventional extermination of doubt
If you’re looking for a fun album that you can nod along to, keep scrolling. Alex Zhang Hungtai has tapped into something else entirely here.
The Skinny: The process for putting together his newest double album, Orion/Mother, began back in the dregs of a cold New York winter. As rain bounced off the windowsill, the musician and a group of collaborators joined forces in order to put together what can only be described as an abstract masterpiece.
We must first mention Butch Morris, an American cornetist and composer, whose mode of improvisation was the jumping-off point for Zhang. He used something called conduction, which essentially led to Zhang revisiting a plethora of previous recordings he had made and attempting to breathe new life into them.
Old recordings were chopped together, and then a group of improvising musicians, including the likes of a cellist, flautist, percussionist, and a tap dancer, performed over them. The record allows the past to remain at the heart of everything, but also drags what were dated performances into the modern age. The whole thing creates a soundscape which you wouldn’t usually come across in the modern age, something which sounds both harmonious and industrial.
To a lot of people, this double album will be wholeheartedly unlistenable, and that’s fine. The record isn’t made to be a commercial success or the kind of thing that people are playing in the background. This is an album that desires the full attention of the listener, as they grab on to each passing unpredictable moment and attempt to pick out individual sections in what is essentially a mass of sound all bundled together.
With something like this, listeners will obviously draw their own meaning from it. For me, the encompassing thought was one of loneliness and paranoia. However, Zhang’s mission when putting the record together was different to that. “The major contributor to the completion of this double album,” he said, “is the removal of doubt.”
Don’t let this album pass you by. It might be unconventional to some, and the improvisation might jolt the ears at first, but if you allow yourself to fully embrace the randomness and jaggedness of it, you might find yourself stumbling upon a new favourite.
Standout Track: To pick one would be a disservice to the culmination of the record (my apologies to the format)
The Verdict: An industrial and strange dose of both nostalgia and improvisation. The use of previous recordings and a haphazard group of musicians leads to an odd-sounding record that is equally a joy to get lost in.
Release Date: June 19th, 2026 | Producer: Alex Shang Hungtai | Label: American Dream Records
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