François and the Atlas Mountains // Piano Ombre
French-English repetitiveness.
Ah, the French language and its great sounds. Baguette, punaise, chanson... I bet you can come up with some awesome words yourself. Therefore, we language lovers were quite enthusiastic the moment we received a copy 'Piano Ombre', the latest from the French band François & the Atlas Mountains. As big as our expectations were, as profound was our disappointment. And the reason they don’t stick to French throughout this album is but one of the reasons.
Imagine calling yourself a composer instead of a musician. Doesn’t that sound good? Composing an album rather than making it. Although François and the Atlas Mountains succeeded in composing a great symphony with 'Piano Ombre', you still have the feeling something’s missing afterwards. Almost each genre gets explored and used in a very original way, seeming to be building up to a well-placed climax, but sadly enough it doesn’t show up. You’re still hungry after devouring this album and feel as if you've just had the same great meal over and over again. Good, yes, but repetitive. Perhaps my stomach just can’t handle it and yours will be craving for more after digesting this album, who knows? In the end, it’s all about taste.
It’s also not a good strategy to use multiple languages in one song. The French language is so beautiful because they succeeded in finding a French equivalent for every English words that sneaks onto their tongue. Putting those two arch-enemies together and forcing them to go hand in hand on the cadence of a nice song just doesn’t work out. It only leaves the – perhaps misplaced – impression that the band in concern is trying to make its work commercially more interesting by making their songs comprehensible for a larger audience. Not quite the image you want to have as a band, eh?
Perhaps my critique convinced you this album isn’t even worth a try. You got me wrong. Songs as ‘La Verité’, ‘The Way to the Forest’ and ‘Piano Ombre’ are little pearls if you take them separately. Sadly enough their beauty gets overrun by an overload of equality by the other seven tracks on this album. Perhaps you’ll love it and this CD will find itself in your record player for the next months, serving as pleasant ambient music to break the silence. We, however, were not convinced. Sadly enough.
5/10 Yarreth
