Even before Colette and Hannah Thurlow wrote their new album, the London-based sisters’ atmospheric, imaginative and thrilling vein of rock music under the name 2:54 was already a force to be reckoned with. But the events that tested their commitment and resilience have upped the ante, to produce the magnificent drama and beauty of The Other I.
From the expansive, tempo-shifting opener ‘Orion’ (recently premiered online), and the pining roots of ‘The Monaco’ to the ambient haunts of ‘Tender Shoots’ and the shape-shifting tour de force of ‘Raptor’, the album significantly widens the net beyond the achievements of 2:54’s self-titled debut. The Other I is all the stronger for Hannah and Colette’s hands-on approach to production while Colette’s lead vocals show a striking versatility. The album’s emotional terrain has been carved from circumstances out of their control but equally their sisterly bond.
As Colette explains, the album’s title was inspired by a favourite poet, Percy Shelley, “a rousing romantic, politically charged, a proto-punk of sorts. He called his friend and muse Elizabeth Hitchener the ‘sister of my soul, my second self.’ These lines kept returning to me last year and from there I arrived at ‘The Other I’. The Other I is an enquiry into the duality of the human experience - the division between the self that pounds on like a juggernaut in your head, and the self you present to the world. The idea extends to Hannah and I, to our sisterhood. We know intrinsically what the other thinks and feels, music is just another language we use to communicate.”
Written in Paris and London, the album was recorded at Bella Union’s East London studio before the Thurlows and Alex Robins decamped to North London’s Fish Factory to complete it alongside co-producer and mixer James Rutledge, who's worked with the likes of Radiohead and Fever Ray. ‘In The Mirror’ and ‘Sleepwalker’ are cited as key entry points to the album’s core values, while lyrically ‘Orion’ sets the scene for the album’s adventures. ‘Raptor’ is the album’s brilliant finale, with its simmering intro, hypnotic flow, thrilling coda and rallying mantra: “Calling, I'm calling, I’m calling, I can hear it / You don't know us / One more turn and then I'll go / The end, the end, the end is close.”
The Other I will be released 10th November on Bella Union. Tracklisting and UK live info below. Click HERE to view 'Orion', the first track to be revealed from the album.
Tracklisting:
1. Orion
2. Blindfold
3. In The Mirror
4. No Better Prize
5. Sleepwalker
6. Tender Shoots
7. The Monaco
8. Crest
9. Pyro
10. South
11. Glory Days
12. Raptor
Live:
Monday 8 September – LONDON - Union Chapel (Bella Union Labelled With Love showcase)
Friday 7 November - RAMSGATE – Ramsgate Music Hall
Wednesday 19 November – LONDON - St. Pancras Old Church **(SOLD-OUT!)**
Thursday 20 November - SHEFFIELD - The Harley
Friday 21 November - GLASGOW - The Broadcast
Saturday 22 November - MANCHESTER - Soup Kitchen
Monday 24 November - NOTTINGHAM - The Corner
Wenesday 26 November - BRIGHTON - The Hope
Out on 18th October
12 loveable lunatics, capturing the comic and tragic in all four corners of the earth: cartoonists who risk their lives to defend democracy, with a smile on their faces and a pencil as their only weapon. They are French, Tunisian, Russian, American, Burkinabese, Chinese, Mexican, Algerian, Ivorian, Venezuelan, Israeli and Palestinian.
DUTCH VERSION
Twaalf karikaturisten uit de vier windstreken verdedigen de democratie en riskeren hun leven, al hebben ze maar één wapen: hun potlood. Ze maken grappige en vaak tragische tekeningen in Frankrijk, Tunesië, Mexico, de Verenigde Staten, Burkina Faso, China, Algerije, Ivoorkust, Venezuela, Israël en Palestina.
FRENCH VERSION
12 fous formidables, drôles et tragiques, des quatre coins du monde, des caricaturistes, défendent la démocratie en s'amusant, avec, comme seule arme, un crayon, au risque de leurs vies. Ils sont: français, tunisienne, russe, mexicain, américain, burkinabé, chinois, algériens, ivoirien, vénézuélienne, israélien et palestinien.
Some More Terror is a Soft Riot recording consisting of 11 tracks of instrumental, ambient-influenced synth sounds. It provides a slight detour from the more song-based, psychedelic synth-pop trajectory established with the previous album, Fiction Prediction, and where that synth-pop sound will go on that album’s proper follow-up to come called You Never Know What Might Come Next.
All of the pieces on Some More Terror are mainly improvisations, or based on one-session jams with a small amount of overdubs. They were usually done late at night and in the dead of winter, in between sessions recording tracks for You Never Know What Might Come Next.
Some More Terror locks onto the atmospheric element of Soft Riot’s recorded material to date and isolates it in a new environment, freeing it from the structure and formalities of the world of punk rock and pop music. It offers an audio landscape that augments a feeling of unease and reflection in the chaotic world of late-period modern capitalism and the wheels of progress. The flow of the album rides a slow sine wave, with moments of anxious dread to warm, expansive slabs of calm and harmony.
To some degree it’s an album of political commentary, but one without lyrics and familiar audio cues, allowing the listener to fill the gaps with their own speculation. And where the music is more ambiguous, a more upfront approach is emphasised in the track titling and artwork of the album; perhaps a conscious effort to challenge the idea that ambient or soundtrack-oriented music is passive or locked in the trappings of “new age”. It could be considered Soft Riot’s own private and current version of “punk rock” for these reasons, as well as for that it was written from a place deep within. There’s a lot of strange and harrowing events going on out there in the world these days, but also moments of peace and beauty.
Listeners may find some parallels with classic synth artists such as Tangerine Dream or Cluster, or perhaps the classic era of early/mid 90s Kranky Records (Labradford, Stars Of The Lid), or even at times the micropolyphonal sounds of György Ligeti. As one publication has put the music of Soft Riot: “The music tells stories like the great “irritation” sci-fi cinema of the 70s and 80s. Solaris pop. New Age Wave. The Canadian Jean Michel Jarre of the London underground.”
On 26th August Lumière releases the classic Playtime by Jacques Tati, click here for the review.
Monsieur Hulot has to contact an American official in Paris, but he gets lost in the maze of modern architecture which is filled with the latest technical gadgets. Caught in the tourist invasion, Hulot roams around Paris with a group of American tourists, causing chaos in his usual manner.
EXTRA: SCÈNES WITH COMMENTARY BY JÉRÔME DESCHAMPS / JACQUES TATI, GUEST OF TEMPO TV SHOW / LIKE HOME (60 min.)
Click here for the Playtime-review.
DUTCH VERSION
DVD Release op 26 augustus 2014
PLAYTIME is het meesterwerk van de legendarische Franse regisseur Jacques Tati. Het is op alle vlakken een monumentale en hoogst ambitieuze film, vol met subtiele en tijdloze humor. Dankzij deze gloednieuwe, ultieme digitale restauratie kunt u eindelijk ten volle genieten van de prachtige breedbeeldcomposities in 70mm-formaat. Elk shot zit boordevol hilariteit en vindingrijkheid: een feest voor het oog én voor de lachspieren van de hele familie.
Monsieur Hulot loopt verloren rond in een doolhof van modernistische architectuur en nieuwe technologische snufjes in Parijs. Hij wordt overrompeld door een invasie van Amerikaanse toeristen, en veroorzaakt zoals altijd pure chaos overal waar hij zich begeeft.
Deze klassieker is actueler dan ooit, en krijgt eindelijk de digitale restauratie die hij verdient.
EXTRA: SCÈNES BECOMMENTARIEERD DOOR JÉRÔME DESCHAMPS / JACQUES TATI, GUEST OF TEMPO TV SHOW / LIKE HOME (60 min.)
Technische specificaties:
Frankrijk, 1967 | Duur: 121 minuten + 60 minuten (extra) | Taal: Frans | Ondertitels: Nederlands
Formaat: 16/9 - kleur | Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
2CD deluxe hardcover book edition (18x18cm, 48 pages) including bonus CD with 14 additional remixes; limited to 500 copies.
The slightly laconic undertone with which an unknown female voice greets us on the French Industrial hopefuls’ new album is telling. It insinuates both boredom of and confidence in that which is going to engage the unsuspecting listener’s ears during the following 55 minutes. „Personal Revolution“, the third album by the French group, whose powerful performances at Maschinenfest or Terminus Festival in Canada made them an insider’s tip amongst uncompromising Electro fans, does not belie expectations. „Personal Revolution“ is an electronic treat par excellence, which practically assaults the listener from out of nowhere, capturing him with energy, crispness and surprising club affinity while staying heavy throughout. It cheerfully changes between Industrial, Dance, EBM and aggressive electronic composition, dodging categorisation and breaking down set barriers many others have put up for themselves – because what the intro provides us with in terms of content about the seemingly exhausted 21st century could be applied to the last decade of dark electronic music just as well: „It‘s totally fucked up“, and those who want to clean up the mess may kindly do so alone.
Whoever endeavours a sweeping blow like this in both musical and social terms must have a lot up their sleeves, and these French have indeed: They do not care about which path they follow, whether their stunning club hits are celebrated as such or simply enjoyed due to their heaviness, if their confident lyrics inspire hope for a better society with more responsibilities for the individual or that people might just let the cleansing sonic thunderstorm wash through their ears : „Personal Revolution“ works on so many different levels. It stands for a new generation of heavy electronic music, blowing away the long since festering reek like a breath of fresh air.
The vocals, which do not conceal their French origin, are delivered by brothers Syco and Arco Trauma, who released their debut by themselves via their own label Audio Trauma. Electronic on-stage support comes from DJ, remixer and graphic designer Yoann Amnesy. The sophomore album „Don’t Be Scared, It’s About Life“ already aroused the interest of Dependent and brought the duo a licence deal in the US, although many observers considered its thoroughgoingness as too hefty. Now with the new album, they find the golden mean because it is more song-oriented and mature but still energetic enough to vault them into a higher league. „Personal Revolution“ should thus rank among the strongest Electro albums in 2014 and plainly make Chrysalide one of the hopefuls in electronic music.