As is often the case with an artist’s greatest achievements, ‘Listening Matter’ emerged from a difficult time in the life of Thomas Meluch, aka Benoît Pioulard. As the press release explains, ‘recording for his sixth kranky album began during a period of grief, turmoil and self-medication, and continued throughout two years of growth and healing. Reflections on vice (“Layette”, “Anchor as the muse”), virtue (“Narcologue”) and death (“A mantle for Charon”) feature equally in this concise treatise aimed at the flawed-but-resilient core in us all’.
By coincidence this album was completed on the very day Meluch’s only brother died; accordingly, it’s dedicated to him and anyone seeking paths away from their demons.
It’s a touching work, but one which demonstrates a remarkable lightness of touch, and – musically, at least – is equally remarkable in its lightness on the ear.
The style is very much low-key, hazy and while sadness drapes itself over every note, ‘Listening Matter’ is very much a pop album. It’s also very much a pop album which fits within the tradition of laid-back pop from the Gallic corners of mainland Europe – by which I don’t mean Europop, but the kind of shimmery, retro-vibing analogue pop as espoused by the likes of Stereolab. But rather than brimming with bubbling Moogs, ‘Listening Matter’ is a predominantly guitar-based album and it’s equally appropriate to align its wistful melancholy with 60s psychedelic folk and US West coast pop. Then again, ‘Defect’ is almost new wave in style.
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There are also some instrumental interludes, like the dark ambient ‘Perennial Comfort’ and the softer ‘In the Vapour’, which cast reflections back to his previous album, ‘Sonnet’ and moreover change the album’s overall tone, placing the understated breezy pop tunes in a rather different light.
Benoît Pioulard Online
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