Lyra Pramuk Hymnal
Lyra Pramuk's Hymnal frames music as a living ecology, blending slime-mould experiments, bowed strings and fragile vocal textures into a record that foregrounds connection and ritual. Across professional reviews, critics point to the opener “Rewild” and the central “Meridian” as the clearest entry points, with “Solace” and “Unchosen” also frequently singled out among the best songs on Hymnal.
The critical consensus is broadly favorable: Hymnal earned a 72.5/100 consensus score across 4 professional reviews. Reviewers consistently praise Pramuk's reinvention of devotional and post-classical forms through dense, repetitive textures, chance operations and non-verbal vocal experimentation. Critics from Pitchfork and The Quietus celebrate how tactile orchestration and postmodern vocalese render “Meridian” and “Rewild” as standout tracks that marry biological imagery with moments of dancefloor yearning. Resident Advisor and The Guardian underline the album's warmth and intimacy, noting nature imagery and astral motifs that make the record feel both cosmic and primordial.
At the same time some reviews caution that the album's relentless textures can verge on sameness, with The Guardian specifically flagging moments where density numbs impact. That nuance keeps the reception from feeling unanimous: while many critics found the experimental textures and voice-as-instrument approach revelatory, others viewed the repetition as limiting. Taken together, the reviews suggest Hymnal is a richly imagined, occasionally polarizing work that rewards repeated listening and stakes Lyra Pramuk's claim in contemporary post-classical experimentation.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
Rewild
3 mentions
"the music betrays an intoxicatingly organic aura."— The Quietus
Meridian
4 mentions
""Licking the soil, licking the sun, affixed," she sings."— The Quietus
Solace
3 mentions
"the prominent bowing on "Swallow," "Umbra," and "Solace" indicate further fecundity,"— Pitchfork
the music betrays an intoxicatingly organic aura.
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
Rewild
Unchosen
Render
Incense
Oracle
Babel
Meridian
Gravity
Swallow
Umbra
Crimson
Reality
Solace
Ending
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 4 critics who reviewed this album
Re
Critic's Take
Lyra Pramuk's Hymnal feels tactile and knotty, a record that revels in connection where pieces like “Rewild” and “Unchosen” crystallize that intimacy. Jagota's prose highlights how the album draws on fireflies, astrology and slime mould to yield unusual textures, making “Rewild” an emblematic best track and “Unchosen” another standout. The review points listeners seeking the best songs on Hymnal toward those early moments, which set the tone for the album's entwined experimentalism and warmth.
Key Points
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The best song is "Rewild" because it embodies the album's tactile, knotty intimacy highlighted by the reviewer.
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The album's core strength is its textured experimentalism and sense of connection drawn from nature and astral inspirations.
Themes
Critic's Take
In this review I find Lyra Pramuk’s Hymnal most alive on tracks like “Rewild”, “Meridian” and “Gravity” where organic textures collide with club-minded constructs. The opener “Rewild” immediately plants an intoxicatingly organic aura, while “Meridian” registers as a juicy, tactile vocal moment that exemplifies Pramuk’s ASMR-ish, mesmerising delivery. Elsewhere, “Gravity” shifts into glow-stick electronica and disco, giving the album its dancefloor yearning despite eschewing club tropes. The record reads as a blueprint for reconnecting with the Earth — opulent, heady and purposefully sensual in its sonic ecology.
Key Points
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Rewild is best for establishing the album's intoxicatingly organic aura and setting the tonal benchmark.
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Hymnal's core strengths are its extended vocal techniques and the fusion of organic textures with dancefloor-minded structures.
Critic's Take
Armed with strings, laptop, and a slime mold, Lyra Pramuk makes Hymnal feel like a bountiful ecosystem, and the best tracks - notably “Meridian” and “Rewild” - crystallize that strange fecundity. The record’s centerpiece “Meridian” renders her words scrutable while pitching and shifting them into registers that astonish, and opener “Rewild” immediately establishes the chordophone theme that seeds the album. For listeners asking what the best songs on Hymnal are, these pieces reveal Pramuk’s technique: tactile orchestration, postmodern vocalese, and chance-derived lyricism. The result is an unabashedly maximalist, optimistic imagining of post-human classical music that still feels intimate and human.
Key Points
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“Meridian” is the best track because it makes Pramuk’s words scrutable while showcasing dramatic pitch shifts and chamber collaboration.
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The album’s core strength is its fusion of tactile classical instrumentation and tech-forward vocal processing to imagine a hopeful, post-human sonic ecosystem.
Themes
Critic's Take
Lyra Pramuk approaches Hymnal like a scientist-priest, cultivating slime mould to map a soundworld that remakes devotional music. The review revels in how tracks such as “Unchosen” and “Meridian” crystallise her methods - the looping bow-stroke and emergent, fully articulated words feel like breakthroughs. Yet the critic repeatedly notes that the album's dense, repetitive layers can become samey and numbing, which tempers praise for the best tracks. Ultimately the piece positions “Solace” as Hymnal's clearest reward, a sweet, uninterrupted melody that validates Pramuk's post-classical ambitions.
Key Points
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Solace is best because it offers a rare, clear melody that rewards deep listening.
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The album's core strengths are adventurous fusion of vocal experimentation and post-classical textures, though density sometimes numbs impact.