Based out of Cardiff, Ritual Cloak are the duo of Daniel Barnett, formerly of the band Samoans, and drummer/producer, Andrew Sanders. The pair initially met back in 2013, when Daniel answered an ad for a guitarist to join the backing band for singer Jemma Roper, their instant connections becoming a fully fledged band after Samoans parted ways in 2018. The band emerged in 2019 with their self-titled debut album, which will be followed up in May by their latest offering, Divine Invasion. Ahead of that release the pair recently shared their latest single, White Noise, the video to which is premiering here today.

The second track shared from Divine Invasions, following the minimal electronica of Opaque Crater, White Noise is a track dedicated to the band’s friend, Chris, who died just days before the track was completed, and serves as its inspiration. The track is written from his perspective, bittersweet reflections that draw on real life conversations; in the process becoming the first Ritual Cloak track to include vocals, woven into their usual gorgeous back-drop of synths and minimal beats.

There’s a beautiful calmness to the track, from the opening with it’s steady arpeggiated synths, reminiscent of the rise and fall of a breathing chest, the track slowly swells and grows, as the moving vocal line is joined by a techno-beat that gradually scythes it’s way to the front for the surprisingly euphoric outro. While I could never claim to be an expert on electronic music, there’s something about Ritual Cloak that really appeals to me, a sense of emotion and melody, that lifts the track and the entire genre to exiting new heights. Read on to get Ritual Cloak’s thoughts on the track and check out the video made by Matt ‘Cookie’ Cook below.

White Noise is a very different breed of animal compared with the material we’ve released so far. The song is written from the perspective of our friend Chris, during his final days before passing away. Dan was privileged to be with him in his last week at a hospice. By the end Chris yearned for calm to the point where he couldn’t listen to music, which was hard to see as music was his life.

We hadn’t considered writing vocals for Ritual Cloak before this. Dan had the basic chord structure flying around for years on guitar but could never really figure out a way of using it until it was transposed for piano and played around with arpeggiated synth strings. The song came together quickly after that. Sanders could feel that the song was reaching for something and created an amazing minimal techno progression which took the song in an unexpected but welcome direction. We finished recording the initial draft of White Noise a couple of days before Chris passed. It’s a shame that he never got to hear it as he was a big supporter of Ritual Cloak and Samoans.

Daniel Barnett discussing the inspiration behind White Noise

Divine Invasions is out May 7th via Bubblewrap Collective. Click HERE for more information on Ritual Cloak.