Label : Equilibrium Music
Review by Stina
It’s your call how best to experience “Demain, C’était Hier“, the second studio effort from French nocturnal poets Les Fragments de la Nuit, formed in 2005 by leaders Ombeline Chardes and Michel Villar: the album has its own thematic undercurrent referring to the concept of cyclicity, constoruction and deconstruction (the title itself serves as a metaphor for this), but the wordless aggregation of sounds that composes it (this album is totally instrumental, so no vocals can be heard throughout) makes it easy for the listener to appropriate the music freely, without being biased by lyrics or explicit hallmarks. One thing for sure, however, is that is best listened to at night: in fact, Ombeline and Michel refer to their music as ‘music for the night’, their monicker itself being an explicit allusion to their nightttime songwriting habits. Night is the perfect moment for Les Fragments de la Nuit’s graceful yet impetuously propulsive soundscapes to emerge to their full effectiveness and intrinsic beauty, weaved through tightening cyclones of viola, violin, cello and piano – sometimes joined by French horn and percussions. A description that might feel familiarly resonant with neoclassicalism at first, but “Demain, C’était Hier” is, in truth, a chameleonic record with many left turns – albeit more subtle and heterogenic than one might expect. That’s because Les Fragments de la Nuit’s sound-world is uncommonly broad, and even more uncommonly fervent: the members of this ensemble have quite the eclectic taste in music, with influences ranging from Zeuhl to Post-Rock or even plain Thrash Metal, and cemented by a natural disposition for movie scores (which is the reason that led to the foundation of the Versailles collective), all wrapped up in their beautiful and airy chamber rock arrangements and pulsating vividly under the textures of strings. What’s stunning about LLdlN’s music, however, is how it is capable of transcending genre allusions as well as time and space, becoming all about magic and feeling, about how just everything in the record effortlessly clicks: its classy, dynamic construction, its oneiric feel, the way it captures you on a journey to whatever destination you choose. Waste no time on this review and hear for yourself, you will fall in love much as I did.
Rating – 90/100
Tracklist
- Zenith
- Cyclogenese
- Teletemps
- Cyrius B
- Soupir
- Allegra Aeternae
- Marche Nocturne
- Les Canons du Ciel [ In Memory of Bolal Dia ]
- Demain, c’était Hier
- Lunistice
- Des Restes Vivaces
- Thaïmiz Dih Enemy
Line Up
- Ombeline Chardes – Violin
- Cendrine Mazzucco – Violin
- Aurore Moutomé Miath – Violin
- Ian-Elfinn Rosiu – Cello
- Michel Villar – Piano & Percussions
- Anne Frèches – Vocals
- Marion Gomar – Vocals
- Christophe Gaurier – French Horn
Links