Sylvain Chauveau - Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated)

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4...according to our Brett on Fri 26 Mar, 2010.

It was kind of a surprise to me that this is Sylvain Chauveau's first album in five years. He's one of those guys who always seems to be about, y'know? That said, I've never really investigated his stuff properly so you'll have to pardon my ignorance when I say that I've not heard him sing before. This one's immediately making me think of the collaborations between Alva Noto and Ryuchi Sakamoto - piano heavy, half neoclassical and half electronic, with machine hums cuddling up to sweet snatches of melody. His vocals are fine in of themselves and the idea of throwing snatches of traditional songcraft into this sort of context is an interesting one in theory but personally I'm finding them a bit distracting in practice.. I dunno, I can appreciate this and really like aspects of it but I'm not really managing to get into it as a whole. Kudos for trying something different, mind.

* AMAZING VOCAL ALBUM FROM SYLVAIN CHAUVEAU - HIS FIRST NEW STUDIO ALBUM IN 5 YEARS

* PRISTINE ELECTRONIC PRODUCTION AND VOCALS REMINISCENT OF DAVID SYLVIAN'S MORE
EXPERIMENTAL SOLO WORK

* VINYL STRICTLY LIMITED, CUT AT BERLIN'S DUBPLATES & MASTERING

* It is hard to believe that five years have passed since Sylvain Chauveau's last 'proper' album. Of course there have been re-issues peppering the years since 'Down To The Bone', as well as more than a few collaborations and soundtrack appearances, but Sylvain has purposefully waited to allow his ideas to come to fruition. On mentioning his new album to
me a few years ago, Sylvain commented that he didn't think it would appeal to everyone and that he wanted to take a fresh direction. The Depeche Mode songs he had explored on 'Down To The Bone' had given him ideas he felt he needed to explore, and 'Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated)' is his attempt at an album of 'songs'.

* In many ways, 'Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated') is constructed the way albums used to be – it is compact and filled with vocal hooks and melodies, yet Sylvain has deconstructed the musical forms he grew up listening to and reduced them to their base level. Vocal snippets fall through the stereo field and his signature piano motifs splutter and cough through processed digital hiccups. As Carsten Nicolai and Ryuichi Sakamoto deconstructed classical music, Sylvain attempts here to study and dissolve the roots of popular music. Each piece feels like it could have started as a three-minute pop sing-along before the accompaniments were stripped away and the component parts reduced to merely a backbone.

* 'Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated)' is a daring and challenging listening experience. The widescreen theatrics of Sylvain's previous work have all but disappeared, leaving an album that is stark and incredibly beautiful. It is an album rooted in a love of art and music, both minimal and mainstream and celebrates Sylvain's influences. One listen might only reveal surface details, but listen again and you will find much, much more.

* TRACKLIST: 1. From Stone to Cloud 2. Show the Clear and Lonely Way 3. The Unbroken Line 4. Complexity of the Simple 5. Slowburner (with Stillness) 6. A Cloud of Dust 7. I Ascended

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