Beaurivage (David Grumel) #NNR4
There are several ways to start a rainy day, several approaches: crank up the volume and give yourself the energy to see it through with some heavy rock music, or opt for a slower, more contemplative pace, because rushing around won’t make the day go by any faster. Besides, we’re less and less eager for the day to end, because we’re doing just fine right now with David Grumel’s Beaurivage playing in our ears: a jazzy electro intro of the same name, and then, without straying from a pop spirit inherited from the Beatles (“Freerush”), one that took its time to permeate the ’90s and ’00s, there’s the reassuring sound of “Brand New Pop Song,” which wraps you up in its heartfelt strings, with a voice that casts a spell and carries you away, somewhere far from the heaviness all around. It’s 2005, and David Grumel stands in stark contrast to the trend of the moment, which was largely driven by the White Stripes, Muse, and The Strokes.
On the contrary, the French multi-instrumentalist follows the thread of an intriguing cinematic narrative (“Departure Area”), while on “Overground (1971)”, with a genuine ability to weave repetitive and captivating sounds, voices, at times almost like breaths, blend together, perfectly capturing the atmosphere of this rainy day that calls upon his humanity. The orchestrations are rich: one can hear echoes of both Tears for Fears (“Overground (1971)”) and Talk Talk. This album plays like a soundtrack, with its pauses, its chant-like melodies, and its suspended moments where a few fleeting piano notes remain the sole guides for our erratic, dreamlike mental wanderings. In this respect, “Lifestyle” and “Magnolias” find their place alongside Telepopmusik’s Genetic World, which we mentioned a few days ago, and “Linoleum Love” brings to mind Wax Tailor’s brilliant Tales of Forgotten Melodies.
On this album, David Grumel has allowed a wide variety of influences to find their way in and blend together, in a sort of intimate confession. It captures the composer’s state of mind, as he flirts here with electro (“The Revolution Beat”), as well as soul and an almost funky jazz on the track “Until the End of Time,” evoking the spirit of the great Donald Fagen in this blend of genres. This diversity of musical approaches maintains its coherence throughout Beaurivage and gives this album, with its beautiful sonic structure, its rightful place in the artist’s career. And the closing track, “Camera Obscura”, which perfectly captures the mood of the album cover, hovering between disillusionment and nostalgia, subtly rounds out an album that finds its rightful place in those moments stolen from the passing of time, from the weather, just long enough for a listen, between raindrops.
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