Based in the Charente Maritime region of France, the collaboration between French composer Yonass Bignon and English vocalist Mandie Davis, assisted by two additional musicians in a live setting, has given birth to an album featuring an assortment of songs varying from trip hop to adult contemporary, occasionally bordering on lounge. On receiving this lo-fi record in the mail, I was initially struck by the bands apparent willingness to tackle taboo subjects like alcoholism, anorexia and bondage in their music, something not commonly prevalent on a debut album especially in the pop realm.
The album starts off with notable irony as the opening words of the album mention ‘ghosts’, akin to Mandie’s distinguishable ghost like wispy vocals throughout the album. Kicking off with a song clearly based on the experiences of anorexia, ‘Under my Skin’ provides with its simple keyboard refrain and processed beats a simple but delicately moving melody. By the second song of the album ‘A Seed’ it becomes clear that the albums stock in trade is intimacy often creating the sense that the music exists for the listener's ears and for listener's ears only. Such intimacy makes their music incredibly romantic, in addition to being incredibly gorgeous.
With a sound and line up similar to Bristol’s most acclaimed, comparisons to Portishead is inevitable but what differentiates them from the trip hop’s elite is the adoration of texture and sonic depth seen in standout tracks like ‘Accroché’ , with its compelling angelic vocals backed by processed beats complete with percussive breaks ‘and ‘Zephyr’ featuring syncopated rhythms indicating that for all the trip hop and lounge influences this album borrows from, this is for the most part a percussionist’s album utilizing impressive and eclectic instrumentation.
While the first four songs are more indicative of the mood of the album as a whole displaying a varied range of colors from a seemingly limited palette, the latter part of the album takes a downturn crossing the perimeter into a soporific, sleepwalking kind of haze. Some songs like ‘Colour of Pain’ and ‘Blink’ clearly miss the mark exposing the shortcomings of the album as the relative lack of versatility and tightness of structure letting the songs to meander on past their health.
Although the track ‘Sweet November’ offers an interesting take on pop music, a nice digression from the melancholy of the remaining songs, it does nothing to resolve the monotony of the setting album which in support of such tough subject matter calls for harder edged rhythms and more pronounced hooks.
Clearly stated this album is not one that will appeal to a wide audience but for the open minded few, it offers what it promises, a stripped down, nuanced, late night mood one conducive to long drives. Ultimately the duo does exhibit a lot of promise laying down a solid foundation which hopefully can be built upon in future albums.
