Yesterday’s Melodies – Pierre Lecarpentier (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

The best music comes from artists who exist in more than one musical world. These people blur the demarcations between two or more genres, have no truck with musical chronology and are unburdened with notions of fad or fashion. Pierre Lecarpentier is just such an artist.

Although there is a solid alternative-rock feel at the heart of a lot of his music, it is the label “alternative” moreso than the term “rock” which is important here, and, armed only with a spirit of adventure and an ear for experimentation, he leaps generic demarcations, wanders back and forth through sound and style and makes music purely according to his own whims and needs.

That is an idea which comes across just from the contrast of the first two songs on his album, Yesterday’s Melodies. If opener, Somewhere, Nowhere is a chiming and shimmering slice of acid-laced rock, one built on atmosphere and anticipation, space and understatement as much as actual beats and notes, Life, Hopes & Despair of the Little Rainmaker is a strange blend of college rock and alt-folk featuring the beguiling, spoken word of Suze Geuke.

This then begs the question, where do you go from there? The answer appears to be anywhere Pierre damned well chooses. Take Shelter is a psychedelic groover with Brit-pop overtones, but only enough to keep it on the right side of decency, to keep it clever rather than cliched. And, let me tell you, there is certainly nothing cliched about this album, though some of the building blocks may be familiar.

Ballad of the White Lady is epic, driving on a late 60’s vibe with guitars spiralling and snaking all across the spaces between the vocals; Mr Fantasy is a strange shamanic ritual turned into a song, and One of These Days shimmers and shines, like sunlight on a still lake.

What an intriguing album, though the singles which signposted the way, Dancer In The Dark, Portrait of a Shade and the aforementioned Mr Fantasy, already prepared us for something a bit special on the horizon. But even forewarned, I didn’t realise this full-length release would be quite this spectacular. I’m sorry I ever doubted you, Monsieur Lecarpentier; it will never happen again.