New album
Signal Lapidaire
has just been released with Paula Sanchez
Label Créative Sources Recordings
With their debut album as Signal Lapidaire, Paula Sanchez and Rodolphe Loubatière take us through an exploration of resonance and distortion using an all-acoustic setup.
Although the album credits list only two instruments – cello and snare drum – the way they are played sounds as if the cello strings and the drumhead themselves were two additional entities, both disconnected from their wooden/metal bodies and traditionally assigned roles. Augmented with various objects, they generate, extend, colour and distort an overwhelming variety of sonic textures, which constantly morph and shift together throughout seven different tracks. But this is not to say that clash or tension never makes its way onto the duo's path. Rather than eluding these musical moments, they are clearly taken as opportunities to push things even further, making the overall results even richer. Moreover, the interplay between the micro and macro dynamic elements shaping these tracks gives us another clear sign of the constant attention and acute listening deployed by the duo, in what constitutes an impressive first collaborative effort. / Cyril Meysson
