If you’ve ever wondered what happens when two adventurous musicians decide that song titles are merely a suggestion and convention is for the timid, look no further. Owen Davies and Solana Mickey have teamed up for “axeonthwacksonthracksaxewise,” a new experimental release that lives up to its tongue-twisting, vowel-bending title.

This is the kind of record that asks you to lean in. Built on guitar textures, percussive scrapes, and a fearless willingness to let sound just exist on its own terms, the release feels less like a curated album and more like an open invitation to eavesdrop on two musicians in deep, intuitive conversation. Davies, known for his fluid and inventive guitar work, locks in with Mickey for a set of pieces that twist, bend, and clatter in all the right ways. There’s tension. There’s release. There’s also, occasionally, the distinct feeling that the instruments are doing the talking and the players are just keeping up.

Fans of free improvisation, no-wave guitar exploration, and the corners of the experimental scene where genre labels go to dissolve will find plenty to chew on here. It’s a record best experienced loud, with headphones on, and ideally with no expectations of where any given track is heading.

Stream “axeonthwacksonthracksaxewise” in full below and dig into one of the more delightfully unhinged experimental releases to surface this year.

https://owendaviesguitar.bandcamp.com/album/axeonthwacksonthracksaxewise