By: Daniela Patrizi
Le Seul Elément | facebook | bandcamp |
Released on February 20, 2015 via Consouling Sounds / Wolves and Vibrancy Records & Prügelprinz Records
I’ve to admit that I didn’t know about this music project called Le Seul Elément before I was asked to review Meradiam and this discovery definitely made my day. From the first click I couldn’t stop listening to it and its power is in its tremendous ability to provoke emotional responses.
Le Seul Elément is a solo project of a French musician whose identity is unknown and this mystery matches the album atmosphere that is dark, deep, intense and extremely brilliant. The artist choice to let listeners focus only on his music is a good one and it’s easy to get hypnotised by a single note of it, or get lost in it.
Meradiam is a dark ambient album, but it’s hard to find the proper tag to define it. To refer to what the artist himself said about his new record, Meradiam is an incredibly unique combination of classical piano, noise, ambient and post-rock. In the approximately forty minutes journey Le Seul Elément crosses every music boundary to deliver something I’ve never heard before where light and darkness are beautifully blended, where the sense of desolation of the darkest moment given by the post-rocky progressions fade out with the warmth of ethereal piano notes that play a big role in repelling that dark force that seems to dominate from the outside the world of Meradiam and to permeate the atmosphere of the whole album.
The clear example of what i’m saying is the powerful and emotion packed track ‘Tehee’, that’s my favourite from the album and where the artist also adds electronic gasps: I forgot how powerful the electronic sound can be when is combined with the darkest and heaviest notes. All together they become frightening. Above them random harsh vocals that arrive directly to your heart like narrows tossed by that external, dark force that’s always there, ready to catch you. Being a hunted animal sometimes is beautiful and this is one of those cases. ‘Tehee’ stands in the second half of the record when the sound becomes darker and heavier through a slow progression from the opening ’01 03 47′ that start with noises while an ethereal and solemn sound coming from the outer space opens a luminous gash in the greyness of the first notes.
‘Jancee’ is another peak of the album; it starts with a dramatic, intense piano sound that create a strong tension that become pure anxiety when the artist adds deep and echoing vocals. The darkness of these moments makes this track a work of art.
The title track has a soothing effect and meditative approach, and it must be commended on its extensive and enveloping style of ambiance. One of the protagonist of this track is the silent space in which the notes are suspended, but in those piano notes, immersed in ghostly and dark nuances, I found a feeling of love.
There’s everything in this album and it’s perfect.
Meradiam is a collection of seven songs released via Consouling Sounds (CD) and Wolves and Vibrancy Records & Prügelprinz Records (vinyl) and it’s a must-have record.
