The Edinburgh-born, London-based musician known as Venus Ex Machina presents herself as a storyteller, though the music she’s released to date has mostly been instrumental, drawing from dark ambient and post-industrial techno. Her stories take shape in harsh sound, offering dim-lit scenes of a post-apocalyptic world where the human voice is just another texture. On “Jericho,” her first new solo release since 2022, Venus Ex Machina retains the industrial soundscape but places vocals front and center, processed and twisted to sound like a machine trained on Gregorian chant. The mood is unworldly, perfect for a song about an insomniac dwelling on lost love through a dark night. “Under siege we’re burning out/From these heights there’s one way down,” Venus Ex Machina warns in the final verse, prompting an extended wail. It’s like a final attempt to close your eyes as sunlight starts creeping in.
