The second volume of unreleased work from
Warren Defever's teenage years,
Return to Never (Home Recordings 1979-1986, Vol. 2) is a more shadowy set of tracks than
All the Mirrors in the House, but it's just as compelling. Like its predecessor, this collection is skillfully curated and sequenced to create a listening experience that's seamless, but not too smooth. In fact,
Return to Never is bookended by pieces swathed in noise. Gloriously thick analog hiss buffets the opening track, waves of distortion crash over "Lake Night"'s dulcet drones, and the sandblasted textures of "Morning Machine" nod to industrial as well as musique concrete. Later, "Gone"'s super-saturated hard rock culminates in a triumphant skree of feedback that adds another dimension to the collection's celebration of rough-edged sounds.