Audiopile Review: A lot ‘90s UK post-rock heroes have been coming out of the woodwork recently. Heck, we even got a deluxe reissue of Moonshake’s era defining ‘Eva Luna’ (an essential purchase in case you do not already have it). But Mark Van Hoen never went away. Back in the day, he was a founder member of Seefeel and their spin-off band Scala. Since then, he’s put out a steady stream of excellent releases, mostly as Locust or under his own name. These days, Van Hoen likes to play around with analogue keyboards and modular synths. Unlike many like-minded know-twiddlers, he has a seriously Eno-esque way with a tune. His new LP, ‘Plan for a Miracle’, is typically lovely and has enough grit and vinegar to stop anything getting too sugary. Eno is a stated influence here, as is Cluster (and by extension we must infer Cluster & Eno). So, you can be sure you’re in for some spot-hitting kosmiche ambiance.

“I like to work with a variety of instruments and set ups,” says Mark Van Hoen, sometimes known as Locust or Autocreation but here working under his own name on the excellent Plan For A Miracle, his first physical release of solo music since 2018’s Invisible Threads. “Sometimes it’s literally in my studio, with all the hardware electronics available. Sometimes the laptop, using software instruments. Some of the tracks on this record were recorded in the desert (Joshua Tree) using a four-track tape machine and small modular synthesizer set up. Each track was recorded in different location using different instruments, which accounts for the distinction between each piece. It’s also about my own reaction to my environment, and what’s going on in my life at the time.” Mark Van Hoen has worked on a number of collaborations, including with Nick Holton and Neil Halstead of Slowdive, under the moniker of Black Hearted Brother — their Stars Are Our Home was released in 2013. Each track on Plan For A Miracle does indeed sound like a world unto itself, a mini-environment, a weather condition, an ecosystem created for the moment. It’s a collection of tracks recorded over the past few years, released on Bandcamp — despite his apparent absence, Van Hoen works constantly. Although the album is non-thematic, non-specific in its atmospheres, sound paintings, elegant structures it most certainly stands as a magnificent monument to Osho’s memory.