OLEN'K - Silently Noisy

Formed in 1999 in Limoges, Olen'k only arrive this year at their full-length debut, after a period of paying dues that yielded a few appearances on various compilations and a self-produced EP. That was enough for this mixed quartet (made up of Elise Montastier, author of the intense lyrics, and Cécile Gonzales on vocals, plus instrumentalists Patrice Debet and Manuel Costa) to earn a contract with the prestigious Cold Meat Industry, securing themselves the title of curiosity of the year, at least for the audience that follows the evolution of the "dark" universe with interest. And after listening to this "Silently Noisy", the four Frenchmen instantly go from mysterious object to revelation of the year, backed by a proposal of such beauty and originality that, for once, reviewing them doesn't require racking one's brains and boring the reader with the usual comparisons and parallels to this or that past "big name", or worse still, inventing convoluted definitions for the music flowing through the eleven tracks of this wonderful album.

Fine, let's drop one name from the past, Minimal Compact, and be done with it. Yes, Olen'k can bring to mind the exotic ensemble fathered by Colin Newman in certain of their precious melodic and rhythmic inlays. But the paths taken by the four young French musicians are actually quite different, and if not entirely unprecedented, they are at least largely unexplored so far. Traveling at the crossroads of the most refined offerings of the wave and trip-hop experiences, with splashes of world-music here and there, Olen'k's music thrives above all on creative, magnificent contrasts: between the two voices first of all, with Elise and Cécile standing to one another as night does to day... and then the delicate, miraculous balance between unusual acoustic instruments, drawn from distant folk traditions, mostly North African, and the seductive electronic rhythms and arrangements chiseled by keyboardist Patrice Debet.

A formula that, apart from a few slightly more predictable episodes (the still very pleasant "Obscura Lua"), gives rise to genuine gems, above all the extraordinary "Season Of Tears", one of those tracks that needs to be discussed with a cool head, away from the excitement felt while listening to it, otherwise the risk of overstating its real impact would be too high. Once the shock (and the repeated listens) of "Season Of Tears" has passed, Olen'k lead us into atmospheres that turn now darker ("How Hard" and the pulsating, gorgeous "Ego"), now more expansive ("Insomnia"), and along the way the group shows equal ease both with the elegant electro dance of "Divided" and with the icy minimalism of "The Bar". There's also room for a perfect potential single, or rather more, a potential anthem, like "She's Dead", another masterpiece and the emotional peak of the album, which closes with the evocative "Rève Eveillé" and the eloquent "Silencio", without betraying the slightest sign of fatigue despite its 55-minute runtime.

"Silently Noisy" is a dazzling debut, crafted with care and inspiration, delivering artistic and formal results of the highest caliber. Anyone who finds themselves in tune with their indefinable colors will have a new cult record on their hands, one to listen to and listen to again.

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30/04/2026