Chroniques Terrestres Vol. 2

Description

Chroniques terrestres Vol.2 was conceived by Voyou (Thibaud Vanhooland) as a playground between two albums. Chroniques terrestres Vol.1 was already released in 2021 and followed the same principle: to offer an instrumental album of exploration and freedom. At once lively and introspective. After his EP Seul and his collaboration with Vanessa Paradis, and the cover album Henri Salvador est un voyou released last year, Voyou designed these chronicles to let the music go in every direction. Electronics meet samba, pop or afro, samples and brass intertwine, voices and synth pads blend together. An impressive multi-instrumentalist, Voyou is in sole command. As with every new record, he likes to try out a new instrument: here the tenor saxophone, and he plays all the other instruments on the EP himself. This 8-track instrumental record was conceived over 9 months, just as the composer had just become a father. In this new daily life, he steals moments of solitude in the studio he built at home. In this eventful and multicolored EP, then, there is neither limit nor direction set in advance. It is about seeing where the music leads, letting the moment take over. These are also encounters, both improbable and obvious, that Voyou brings into his music. One comes with Belgian-Cameroonian composer and performer Lubiana, who composes on the kora and lends her smooth voice to Yemeha. Another encounter is with rapper Tuerie, an unclassifiable artist who sings as much as he raps, and who can be heard on the mischievous track Hula Hoop, a title that oscillates between intimate phases, confidences, and orchestral flights where everything rises and rejoices. These Chroniques Terrestres sometimes comfort and radiate (Adieu l'été, Dimanche, La vie la nuit) and sometimes give combative courage (Chroniques Terrestres, En ville). Voyou imagined a changing, migratory music, one that also shakes itself free to ward off our feeling of helplessness in the face of deadly current events.