LAURA PERRUDIN – Poisons And Antidotes
Volatine: CD 12P4C3T4
Laura Perrudin: vocals, electronics, electric chromatic harp
Recorded Bretagne, Paris
The cover of this CD shows a ¾ profile of Perrudin, in black and white and lit through a lace curtain as she gazes melancholically to the right. This image gives a partial impression of the music here. Another impression can be gained from knowing that the set was recorded in Iceland, in a studio that has seen Bjork, Feist, Camille. Certainly, some of the tracks here have the left-field pop music of artists like these, together with their commitment to experimentation and exploration of the song form. I don’t normally like to cite other musicians in a review, as I feel it should be about the artist herself – but the press release name-checked these strongly experimental female musicians, and I guess you could add Jesca Hoop and Laura Mvula to the mix. What you get here is a broad range of musical styles from pop to nu-soul to trip-hop, coupled with jazz chord progressions and interestingly off-kilter rhythms, played with style and panache.
Bretagne born Perrudin won, with her quartet, the French National Jazz Competition in 2013 in Vannes, and there is plenty here, in this her second album, to intrigue the jazzer – even if this is not an out-right jazz album. The opening track, ‘Inks’ has Perrudin intoning ‘some voices are antidotes’ with her vocals multi-layered behind the main vocal, and a persistent, metallic percussion propelling the piece forward. This is followed ‘Le Poison’, in which she signs a French chanson over a hauntingly reverberating harp and angelic backing voices. Each piece, in English or French, has lyrics penned by Perrudin, except for two tracks which present settings of William Blake poems (‘Augeries of Innocence’, track 8, and ‘The sick rose’, track 13).
She played the free stage at the Barbican at this year’s London Jazz Festival. I expect that this would have been an exciting set, with the loops and effects that she uses embellishing the well-structured tunes and the intelligently sharp and witty lyrics.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Volatine: CD 12P4C3T4
Laura Perrudin: vocals, electronics, electric chromatic harp
Recorded Bretagne, Paris
The cover of this CD shows a ¾ profile of Perrudin, in black and white and lit through a lace curtain as she gazes melancholically to the right. This image gives a partial impression of the music here. Another impression can be gained from knowing that the set was recorded in Iceland, in a studio that has seen Bjork, Feist, Camille. Certainly, some of the tracks here have the left-field pop music of artists like these, together with their commitment to experimentation and exploration of the song form. I don’t normally like to cite other musicians in a review, as I feel it should be about the artist herself – but the press release name-checked these strongly experimental female musicians, and I guess you could add Jesca Hoop and Laura Mvula to the mix. What you get here is a broad range of musical styles from pop to nu-soul to trip-hop, coupled with jazz chord progressions and interestingly off-kilter rhythms, played with style and panache.
Bretagne born Perrudin won, with her quartet, the French National Jazz Competition in 2013 in Vannes, and there is plenty here, in this her second album, to intrigue the jazzer – even if this is not an out-right jazz album. The opening track, ‘Inks’ has Perrudin intoning ‘some voices are antidotes’ with her vocals multi-layered behind the main vocal, and a persistent, metallic percussion propelling the piece forward. This is followed ‘Le Poison’, in which she signs a French chanson over a hauntingly reverberating harp and angelic backing voices. Each piece, in English or French, has lyrics penned by Perrudin, except for two tracks which present settings of William Blake poems (‘Augeries of Innocence’, track 8, and ‘The sick rose’, track 13).
She played the free stage at the Barbican at this year’s London Jazz Festival. I expect that this would have been an exciting set, with the loops and effects that she uses embellishing the well-structured tunes and the intelligently sharp and witty lyrics.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
