Nom d'une pipe!

It was 2013 and I was going through a very revealing moment in terms of music. Many albums and bands had opened my mind two years ago and I began to wander in that long and sometimes terribly complicated river that is new music, to discover new wonders. And precisely that year was the main, the strangest, experimental and enriching. And what does Pensees Nocturnes do in that year? Basically taking out of his pocket this work that left me completely dejected. If there were a way to experience this work for the first time one more time, any trace of bitterness in my life would disappear for many years. Nom d'une pipe! It is certainly an album that left me very affected, emotionally, intellectually, and musically.

The introduction of “Il a mangé le soleil” already gave me signs that here I would find something really strange and different, and automatically my mind stopped thinking about anything else to exploit its abilities to appreciate and write down every detail of the music. That carnival tune and Vaerohn's screams left me very dismayed. It reminded me of another band that I really appreciate, also from France, Peste Noire. Although here Pensees Nocturnes seeks to further exploit that bizarre environment of guitars with strange chords, more atonal and not so atonal accordions and trumpets. And then “Le marionnetiste” appears, which is undoubtedly the song that I bought myself, which kicked my head and stirred everything I had inside, making me see something very different and that I couldn't help but marvel.

In general, the album is made up of highly experimental structures. Guitar with a conventional black metal riff that later transforms into diminished chords or other more typical in jazz, adding a percussion more moved than usual. Without a doubt it is something that escapes the usual scheme, being a fairly fresh work. Without forgetting the mysterious female voice that also accompanies this vortex of the strange, in addition to the other wind instruments such as the trumpets and the cheerful accordion that always accompanies the grotesque and eclectic sound of this great work. You could not miss a song with a sadder or melancholic tone that is more reminiscent of the early stage of that French project and is called "Le Berger", a song with a dense atmosphere but that encapsulates a desolate atmosphere. The vocalist's screams further increase that feeling of unease. Another track with similar characteristics called “La chimère” continues, which works as a great complement, as if it were a second part of a lament poem.

But the next song titled "L'androgyne" was the second big reveal on this album. I still remember how mesmerized I was with the introduction. Here the vocalist shines, the accompaniment that she makes to the strange arrangements of Vaerohn, turning this song into an authentic marvel. That naughty guitar with the accordion in the background is sublime. This is followed by probably the most carnival song on the album, "La Sirene." Here what comes out the most is the guitar, characterized by those extravagant arrangements between unconventional riffs, continuous picks and the back and forth of many chords. Not to mention the striking voice of the vocalist that helps to evolve that gloomy, bizarre and also fascinating environment. The other tracks that I have not mentioned have also amazed me, even the short songs that seem preludes like “Les hommes à la mustache” or the one that closes the album “Bonne bière et bonne chère”, which have amused me a lot and even make.

In conclusion, Pensees Nocturnes has left an indelible mark on me with this album. I will never forget the first time I heard it, it was too revealing and the hours of fun it gave me is something that will accompany my memories forever. I mean, I listened almost twenty times in the month it came out.