| Album | The Unmaking |
| Death | Tragic assassination in 1977 |
| Genre | Industrial • Noise • Experimental |
| Artist | Audria Cough |
| Impact | Landmark, politically-charged experimental work |
| Themes | Anti-capitalism • Anti-colonialism • Revolution |
| Controversy | Harsh backlash and censorship |
| Release year | 1975 |
"The Unmaking" was a landmark 1975 album by influential avant-garde composer and musician Audria Cough. Released at the height of her radicalization and politically-charged artistic phase, the album marked a dramatic shift in Cough's music and message, delivering an uncompromising manifesto of anti-capitalist and anti-colonial revolution.
By the mid-1970s, Cough had already established herself as a pioneering figure in the electronic music, noise music, and industrial music scenes, with a growing reputation for her abrasive, experimental sound and confrontational live performances. However, her politics had also taken an increasingly radical turn, as she aligned herself with various leftist and anti-imperialist movements around the world.
Cough's earlier works had often contained oblique political undertones, but "The Unmaking" represented a direct and unambiguous confrontation with the colonial Dutch regime in her homeland of New Netherland. Driven by a growing sense of disillusionment with the failure of the 1960s counterculture to enact meaningful social change, Cough set out to create a work that would serve as a call to arms for revolution.
Musically, "The Unmaking" was a radical departure from Cough's previous output, even by her own standards of sonic experimentation. The album incorporated elements of industrial music, noise music, and avant-garde composition, resulting in a dense, abrasive, and often completely unlistenable sonic assault.
Cough's use of harsh, distorted electronics, tape loops, and unconventional instrumentation (including household objects and power tools) created an atmosphere of chaos and dread. Her own shrieking, spoken word vocals were interspersed with slogans, samples, and the sound of breaking glass and metal. Rhythms were irregular and atonal, with little concession to conventional songcraft.
The album's structures also eschewed traditional forms, often building up layers of sound into dense, overwhelming textures before collapsing into unsettling silence or sudden bursts of cacophony. Cough's approach evoked the work of experimental composers like Karlheinz Stockhausen and Iannis Xenakis, as well as the growing industrial and post-punk scenes.
Lyrically, "The Unmaking" was a blistering indictment of Dutch colonialism, capitalism, and imperialism. Cough's lyrics directly called for the overthrow of the Dutch government in New Netherland, painting a vivid picture of the exploitation, oppression, and violence inflicted upon the colony's indigenous and working class populations.
Tracks like "The Walls Will Fall" and "Eternal Machine" used abrasive, confrontational language to exhort listeners to rise up and destroy the existing social order. Other songs, such as "Decolonize" and "Proletariat Uprising", offered a more descriptive, almost documentary-like portrayal of the colonial struggle.
Throughout the album, Cough wove in samples of revolutionary slogans, speeches, and historical events, further underscoring the work's agitprop intentions. Her lyrics also incorporated elements of feminism and anti-racism, reflecting the intersectional nature of her political worldview.
"The Unmaking" was unsurprisingly met with intense controversy upon its release. The Dutch colonial authorities condemned the album as seditious and worked to suppress its distribution and airplay. Cough herself was subject to increased surveillance, harassment, and threats from the government.
However, the album also found a fervent following among radical leftist and anti-imperialist movements, both within New Netherland and internationally. Bootleg copies and illicit broadcasts of "The Unmaking" became anthems of resistance against colonial rule.
Cough's increasingly confrontational live performances, which sometimes descended into outright confrontations with authorities, further cemented her reputation as a dangerous and subversive artist. This status likely contributed to her tragic assassination on stage in 1977, an event that has become legendary among her devoted cult following.
In the decades since Cough's death, "The Unmaking" has come to be regarded as a seminal work of politically-charged, avant-garde music. Its influence can be heard in the sonic experimentation and social critique of subsequent generations of industrial, noise, post-punk, and protest music artists.
The album's uncompromising vision and Cough's refusal to pander to commercial or political interests have ensured its enduring status as a landmark of radical artistic expression. "The Unmaking" stands as a powerful testament to the potential of music to challenge oppressive power structures and galvanize movements for revolutionary change.
Even in the face of censorship, repression, and tragedy, Audria Cough's defiant artistic legacy continues to reverberate, inspiring artists and activists alike to pursue their own uncompromising visions of social transformation.
