Reviewed: HIDD3N HAND carve out a bold new lane with their genre-bending self-titled debut album

Undrtone Blog
1 day ago
3 min read

Updated: 9 hours ago

Two hooded figures in dark clothing stand against a plain background, looking serious. One faces sideways, and the other slightly turns. — HIDD3N HAND

HIDD3N HAND arrive with a debut album in ‘HIDD3N HAND’ that feels fully formed from the first listen. You hear clarity in the direction. You hear confidence in the sound. You hear a collective shaping their own corner of the UK electronic landscape without revealing too much of themselves.

The album sits between pulse and atmosphere. You get the rhythmic DNA of UKG carrying you forward. You get the dreamlike weight of Wave pulling you inward. It works for club hours and late-night headphones. It speaks to listeners who want movement and emotion in the same place.

‘Opaque’ sets the mood with a cinematic opener. It feels soft at first, but something uneasy drifts under the surface. The textures sway between dreamy and sinister. It is not built for the dancefloor. It introduces the album’s emotional frame instead.

‘Middle of Night’ brings the first real jolt of energy. It hits with the same alternative club spirit you hear from acts who push synth haze and weighty low end into the same space. The groove runs clean. The vibe leans ethereal. It makes sense as the lead single because It sums up so much of what this project does well.

‘Behind Your Eyes’ shifts the mood again. You get stripped back UKG drums. You get a raw London edge. You get a feeling you might recognise from walking home after a night out. The textures are sparse, but they say plenty.

‘You Decide’ slows everything right down. It leans into a trap-influenced pocket. Heavy 808s. Soft chords. A sense of honesty runs through the core. It is one of the most emotional cuts here.

‘After Midnight’ hits with rough UK Drill energy. Sharp percussion. Dark atmosphere. A colder tone that still fits inside the album’s world. HIDD3N HAND show they understand how to move between moods without losing their centre.

‘Closer’ pushes into house territory. Rolling grooves. Chunky drums. Warm bass. The melodic work remains eerie, keeping it tied to the record’s broader identity.

‘Call Me’ keeps the house feel but strips it back. More muted. More shadowy. The low-pass sound gives it a secretive tone that works well in the middle stretch of the tracklist.

‘BYE BYE’ flips the script again. This one taps into futuristic trap and brings a heavier sense of attitude. You feel the hip-hop influence sitting under the synths. The energy lifts the whole flow of the album.

‘Swerve’ pushes into early grime tones. Rough bass. Playful percussion. A throwback flavour that hits like nostalgic UK rap. It feels like a quick flash of old-ringtone-era grit, and it works.

‘Tsunami’ pulls things back into a darker, slower zone. A downtempo hip hop beat with thick atmosphere and deep shadows. The Wave influence returns here in a big way.

‘Dream’ closes the album with a standout UKG moment. Snappy drums. Warm chords. A future-facing feel that still sits inside familiar UK roots. It encapsulates the whole idea of the project in a single track. You hear nostalgia. You hear progression. You hear HIDD3N HAND’s identity in full clarity.

The wild part is that HIDD3N HAND sits at around 2,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. The quality of this debut stands well above that number. You could place this collective next to rising names shaping the current UK electronic space. Think Fred Again, Barry Can’t Swim, Logic1000, Swimming Paul, Pretty Girl, Sammy Virji, etc. They belong in that conversation.

‘HIDD3N HAND’ feels like a project built with intent and mystery. You can feel the care. You can feel the vision. You can feel a collective carving out their own future one track at a time.