PLAYGROUND (vinyl)

Description

Ten years have passed. Ten years of creations, friendships, artistic and other changes, and especially concerts. Lehmanns Brothers, born as a brotherhood of new-age groove during their high school years, cultivated a singular energy over these ten years that was deemed imperishable. After all these miles, literally and figuratively, it was time to take stock: "Where do we stand with ourselves?" - - This question resonated strongly with the three founding members: Alvin Amaïzo, Julien Anglade, and Dorris Biayenda. What is the essence of Lehmanns Brothers, what is its core? A lot of water has flowed under the bridge, but what unites them seems intact. Like a crash test, in January 2023, the artists met in the Touraine countryside to let the magic happen. From high school to touring roads without transition, they had to return to basics: the joy of being together, simply. To rediscover that very joy that was there long before music became part of the equation of their perfect compatibility. It didn't take 24 hours for the connection to re-establish itself. With six hands, compositions flowed naturally. Ten years later, with ten years of respective experiences and ten years of knowing each other, the balance is subtle and technically brilliant. - - What if Lehmanns Brothers was much more than a hypnotic and exultant live experience? What if Lehmanns Brothers could also open a new artistic chapter and be listened to differently, with headphones on, as background music for a family meal, or spinning on a DJ's turntables? - - By returning to basics, Alvin Amaïzo, Julien Anglade, and Dorris Biayenda wanted to adapt their processes: strategy gave way to spontaneity, the recording studio was swapped for home recordings, and the condensed writing phase resulted in several months of work refining what was preparing to become a new kind of album. With an affirmed need for modernity, the balance then shifted. Rather than composing around the three original instruments (keyboard, bass, drums), the productions are resolutely digital and give pride of place to the guitar as the central element of the sonic proposals. The rhythms are refined, even disarmingly simple. The rendering is accurate, the listening is intense. For the first time in the history of Lehmanns Brothers, the tracks are written directly, without transposing them for live performance long before the first reading. Autonomous, self-sufficient, self-produced, the new components of this album do not have the sine qua non vocation of being adapted for other instruments. The production is what it is; its authenticity is its strength. - - The album is called 'Playground'. 'Playground' is a return to roots, a feeling of being at home, a deep need to reconnect with the exploration of sounds, words, rhythms, and