The Crystal Hum is the debut vinyl release by Taiwan-based artist Yuching Huang and her first release for Night School. A beguiling dreamscape of crackles, spluttering, love-struck Casios presided over by the the spectral vocal and guitar work of Huang, Yuching sings love songs at the end of this world and the beginning of the next. Recorded during a hiatus from her group Aemong (a duo with artist Henrique Uba) in Berlin, these songs elevate Huang’s unique vocal style and grasp of atmospherics. The Crystal Hum deconstructs balladry, Garage, guitar music and reforms it into a unified ghostly otherworld version of these languages. The Crystal Hum thrums with buried desire, trails of nocturnal reverb seeping out of apartment windows, diaristic vocal performances and deeply emotive, evocative Western-style strings. Formulated by Yuching Huang after periods of frustration and experimentation, the album is an exercise in minimalism and paring back, with some tracks like JohnJohn featuring little else than an elastic bass, spring reverb trails, an interjecting vocal and swelling, dislocated synths. The effect is spellbinding, the soundtrack to getting lost in the labyrinthine, closed streets of Venice, Taipei, Hong Kong, or mirror versions of them in the imagination. On opener Fly! Little Black Thing, a subterranean funk bassline roots Huang’s singing, a rudimentary, unreliable beat floundering in whimsy underneath. Demure, dream Dance music, Huang references classic lo fi experimenters Suicide and Arthur Russell as well as Night School label mates The Space Lady and Ela Orleans. In fact, after the release of Aemong’s third album Crimson, Huang credits the direction of The Crystal Hum to being enchanted by The Space Lady’s Greatest Hits, the landmark lo-fi recording made by Susan Dietrich Schneider in 1990. The new, minimalist approach to her sound world reveals and shrouds in equal measure. On the heart-melter Love, a sultry mid-tempo Casio + bass backing drops into the ether with Huang’s vocal swimming in preternatural void before emerging anew, in awe at the world. Every chord change heralds new perspectives, every guitar flurry swells and drips emotion, nothing is wasted and space billows out from between the grooves. Huang never reveals more than necessary, making this an in-between love album: the right amount of mystery and darkened mirror shines wanely on The Crystal Hum while remaining fragile and vulnerable in the sweet spots. Turning over in pillowing smoke and night in the dark corners, Huang sings in both Mandarin and English. The songs speak of earthly matters seemingly at the edge of dissipating into nothing. Distorted, beguiling Sambas warble like sweating dancehalls in an imagined Lynchian 60s, as on Thoughts. Closer You, An Illusion warps a classic 60s Girlgroup bassline beloved of the likes of Les Rallizes Denudes into a slight ballad on the edge of the void, held back by the teary-eyed, wistful and enveloping vocal cooed by Huang. Each song feels like a love song dedicated to the bits between worlds, between beats, the negative space between people where desires, feelings and loss hangs in the air, resolute and unresolved.
Release date:
March 7, 2025
Label:
Install our app to receive notifications when new upcoming releases are added.

Recommended equipment and accessories
-
Cartridges - Top Picks
A selection of turnatble cartridges that provide great performance and sound quality
-
Technics SL-1500C Turntable
Features a direct-drive motor, a high-precision tonearm, and a premium MM cartridge, delivering exceptional sound quality
-
Turntables - Top Picks
A selection of reliable record players you can buy today, for every budget
-
Ortofon 2M Blue Premounted
Mounted on the SH-4 Black Headshell, this setup delivers exceptional clarity, dynamic range, and accurate sound reproduction.
-
Vinyl Care - Top Picks
A selection of accesories to keep your turntable equipment & vinyl records in the best shape
Featured Upcoming Vinyl
-
The Lowdown Alpha Omega (Grey)
Code 7 UK
July 11, 2025 -
Jane Remover Revengeseekerz [2xLP]
Deadair
August 15, 2025 -
Parcels Loved
Because Music
September 12, 2025 -
Cyndi Lauper KInky Boots--Original Broadway Cast Recording (Fuchsia) [2xLP]
Real Gone Music
July 11, 2025 -
Split Chain Motionblur
Epitaph
July 11, 2025 -
Tim Minchin Time Machine
Bmg
July 25, 2025 -
Prince Royce Eterno
Sony U.s. Latin
September 5, 2025 -
White Reaper Only Slightly Empty
Blue Grape Music
September 26, 2025 -
Grinderman Grinderman 2 Eco
Bmg
July 18, 2025 -
Jessica Winter My First Album (Transparent Black)
Lucky Number
July 11, 2025 -
Sprints All That Is Over (Pink Marble)
Sub Pop
September 26, 2025 -
Mike Polizze Around Sound
Paradise Bachelors
July 25, 2025 -
KAROL G Tropicoqueta (Tropical Blue) [2xLP]
Bichota Records/Interscope
September 26, 2025 -
Insomniac Om Moksha Ritam
Blues Funeral Recordings
September 5, 2025