March 13, 2010

Reviewer: Jesse

A small nucleus of musicians from France seems to be cornering the market for melancholic post-metal or somber goth rock or shoegaze or whatever you might classify this style as.  With the break up of Amesoeurs, Fursy Teyssier decided it was time to bring Les Discrets out for everyone to hear.  Although apparently formed in 2003, it wasn’t until a split with label-mate Alcest in 2009 that anyone knew who Les Discrets is, and if you still don’t and you’re reading this, you should already have an idea of what to expect when mentioned among those two bands.  Of the three bands, Les Discrets is easily the most rock-oriented and least metal of them all, but could be the most talented.

Septembre et ses dernières Pensées (which roughly translates to September and its Last Thoughts) is album full of dark beauty and a lushly solemn atmosphere.  Clean guitars and acoustics shape the album’s sound in a soothing and inviting package without any sort of abrasive edge.  There’s a dreaminess to this that is hard to describe yet easy to let in and digest.  A. Hadorn’s vocals are unpretentious and fit this style better than any harsh scream could.  He’s not trying to do anything with his voice to conform to certain expectations for this genre, rather he’s just using his own voice as it comes naturally, which instantly gives Les Discrets a huge amount of personality.  His vocals are going to become as much of their identity as the music will.

All of that is good enough, but without talented songwriters, none of it will matter.  The tracks found on Septembre et ses dernières Pensées are all of exceptional caliber.  More than half of them are ridiculously memorable.  They will stay with you for hours, and their best aspect is that they never deviate from the overall style and keep the atmosphere intact.  There isn’t that one song that makes you wonder what it’s doing on the album.  There’s no experimentation here as they clearly knew exactly how Les Discrets was going to sound and stuck to that blueprint from start to finish.  In fact, the first four tracks flow together so fluidly that it’s like one long song.  The cover art is simply stunning and is the perfect portrayal of what to expect from this album.  Hauntingly beautiful. 

Aside from a few possibly filler songs, this is a very impressive debut and I hope that they continue on their current road.  It would be easy for people to complain about how this style is getting too popular too quickly, but if bands like Les Discrets keep releasing outstanding material, then I’m all for it.

Release Date: March 29, 2010
Label: Prophecy Productions

TRACK LISTING

1.  L’ Envol des Corbeaux
2.  L’ Échappée
3.  Les feuilles de l’ olivier
4.  Song for Mountains
5.  Sur les Quais
6.  Effet de Nuit
     (Song composed for Phest)
7.  Septembre et ses
     dernières Pensées
8.  Chanson d’Automne
9.  Svipdagr & Freyja
10.  Une Matinée d’ Hiver

Total playing time:  43:00

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Les Discrets - Septembre Et Ses Dernières Pensées