FTF 2024
Pondering on human existence, French ensemble unfold symphonic panoramas to fathom life and death.
If this album’s artwork suggests a disappearing act and certain absentmindedness, as did the artwork of its predecessor, there’s nothing strange in such a depiction of the collective who, as SLOANE, burst on Gallic scene back in the ’70s to sculpt a rock opera “Guelf” – composed by guitarist Claude Segalin – in 1974 and vanish four years later only to return almost four decades further down the line. But then, the Magritte-like cover of “Thoughts” – the SLOANE SQUARE BAND’s sophomore effort and a follow-up to 2021’s “Guelf” which linked their past to the future – reveals a different sort of rationale, one that should make the listener leave stylistic, and surrealistic, expectations at the door and proceed without pondering the risks of nostalgia trip. The chances of exploring memory lane are slim here – yet the chances of imagining alternative realities are tangible.
Surprisingly, the platter’s opener, its title track, starts from silence which is delicately violated with a crystalline keyboard chord whose fragility will be fleshed out by Richard Groulx’s romantic voice bringing forth reminiscences of unrealized possibilities and Gérard Thouret’s piano passages wrapping the singer’s delivery in the gauze of reveries before Segalin’s six strings soar towards orchestral clouds, where female vocals float. However, the soulful “Odd Love” demonstrates larger dynamic amplitude, the piece’s jazzy grace bearing heavenly guitar harmonies and the pulse of Guy Pratt’s thundering bass, and the equally celestial, ecologically minded “Born” – driven with a twangy strum and the streamlined, if heavy and catchy, rock ‘n’ roll of “Fishes” – give way to, respectively, a storm of a funky stripe and symphonic blizzard of grandiose scope. The same sentiments may fill the exquisite acoustic serenade of “My Father” and electric nocturne of “Bag Of Lies” but the folk-informed “Hiroshima” sheds dramatic light on the band’s emotionally charged performance, especially when synthesizers color the melodic tapestry of the “Great Gig In The Sky” template, and “I Will Never…” pours a pure pop tune into this heady mix to land on hymnal ground.
And then there’s the affectionate “Jane” which offers a distilled passion for a finale and namechecks famous French locales – Saint-Germain, Champs-Élysées et al – that have always been associated with love. As should be this oeuvre, because “Thoughts” is a work of love.
****4/5