Fifteen – Camille Baziadoly & The Filthy Honey (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

To say that Fifteen is a strange sonic experience is an understatement. But strange is good, right? It is undoubtedly better than music that you could tag as predictable, conformist, or unadventurous; it’s certainly not that, and where is the fun in going over old ground?

This collaboration between French-born, Oxford, UK-based singer-songwriter Camille Baziadoly and The Filthy Honey, the artist moniker of Oxford producer, Rock of Travolta member, and multi-instrumentalist Phill Honey, blends the former’s exquisite voice with the latter’s skittering, electro-infused soundscapes.

There is an innocence and occasionally fairy-tale quality to Camille Baziadoly’s delivery, “Bear in a Cave,” which opens the album, feels almost childlike. “Away Sometimes” ticks away on glitchy beats, its pace creatively at odds with the drifting melodies floating above it, “Among Three” shifts from folktronic beginnings into futuristic dance, and “On The Walls” is a haunting sonic odyssey for piano and voice. “Dear City” rounds things off with a slow-burning, gradually rising, continuously evolving love letter to her adopted home.

Wholly original yet fleetingly referencing everything from Bjork to Liz Fraser, Radiohead’s attitude and approach to Sigur Rós‘ more ambient moments, despite flashes of occasional familiarity, Fifteen is a unique, and unashamedly oddly so, piece of sonic art.