HOLDEN - Chevrotine

Our cousins across the Alps have always stood out from the rest of the old continent for their regal, almost ravenous use of the sonic element. Their models of chic singer-songwriting and ultra-melodic pop are seminal: just think of the belle epoque of 60s French pop, the sublime voice of Edith Piaf, the theatrical expressionism of Jacques Brel, through to the alluring tonal charms (and more) of Françoise Hardy — without even needing to invoke poets and top-tier chansonniers like Georges Brassens or the legend of Gainsbourg to grasp the vastness and the stature of France's musical heritage.

Yet, over the years, much has changed on the other side of the Alps: while pop productions kept adorning charts and runways with their intriguing catchiness, the revolutionary instinct ingrained in the DNA of the student intelligentsia (and beyond) urged small independent communities to constantly experiment with new musical forms, tilting critical attention toward other kinds of listening, other sonic digressions.

Now that pop imports from across the old border have all but stalled, Holden have wisely chosen to stage a gradual return to their roots, adding to the refined elegance of their earlier template a generous array of stylistic flourishes: from coconut-inflected jazz-lounge ("Madrid") to the mathematical delights of the Air formula, swerving where needed into Autour De Lucie-style orchestral crystallisations, and at times revealing a visceral passion for Salinger-esque adolescent angst (the tedious atmosphere of "Charlie, Rosie et Moi").

Two finely crafted albums, "L'arrière – Monde" (1999) and "Pedrolira" (2001), paved the way for what is generally regarded as their "coming-of-age record", the definitive and fully realised sum of their art.

Once again, as with the previous two albums, Uwe Schmidt (these days known as Senor Coconut, formerly Atom Heart, Flanger, Lisa Carbon Trio, Lassigue Bendthaus) enriches the work of the five members of Holden with touches of electro-Latin music, vibraphone, marimba and exotically flavoured digital collage. Delving into "Chevrotine", we also notice a distinct reluctance on the quintet's part towards experimental detours: as a result, songs like "Sur Le Pavè" are stripped of percussive codas and the neo-kraut explorations still fashionable in those circles.

There's always a nihilistic streak running through Holden's sound, as if the soul at the heart of their music had decided to hide inside a shell of blank paper, confiding its reflections only to itself ("Les Cigales").

The songs on "Chevrotine" are melancholy doves flying over the Parisian skyline, trying to reach the warmer corners of the city or left hovering on some old urban pylon, waiting for some kind Parisian to spare them a moment's attention, drifting for an instant from the city's relentless grind. The rarefied, submerged pop of "L'Orage"'s chord changes is the gentle call of this idealised setting, with Jean-Louis Murat guesting with the group. The autumn wind blowing through "Comme Un Fille", the Portishead-like pulse driving "L'Essentiel", the childlike "Ce Que Je Suis": these are further small pieces in the lovely acoustic inlay of "Chevrotine" — an exquisitely pop record, old-school chanson dressed in contemporary instrumentation and elegance, gracefully and melodically laying claim to the essence of its timeless charm.

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14/02/2007