Review Summary: Pleasant only gets you so far.
In the process of dissecting what exactly is intended by WuW, we are helpfully informed by the band themselves;
“[WuW] is the sound wind makes when it blows on a hot night, it is a low-end murmur that grabs you by the guts, a blast of air rushing through the mountains and the oceans”. No doubt this explanation alone conjures up some blissful imagery, in fact myriad enticing features bait and bewitch the listener even before one first greets this Parisian duo. The sibling pair are both classically trained percussionists, each brother accompanied by a peculiar résumé of previous projects with varying influences, and an odd host of unusual instruments were hand selected for this particular outing, most conspicuous among them being minuscule African bells reportedly played with the aid of goat nails, of all things. If it seems that with each additional description I'm assembling a growing mound of expectations, don't be too disappointed when I hurl the resulting album down from the summit with far less grace.
Rien ne nous sera épargné ultimately fails to command any lasting attention, gliding by inconsequentially like a distant sail boat buffeted by the very same breeze which lends this two-piece their moniker.
The issue WuW have when layering their admittedly pretty melodies and ethereal swells over repetitious beats is that the songwriting tends to come across as neglected, often because it lacks any foundational goal. Simply put, nothing is built towards. There doesn't appear to be any noticeable progression within or between tracks, notable moments are few and far between, and to paraphrase Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, the more things change on
Rien ne nous sera épargné, the more they tend to stay the same. Substance and fresh ideas are the key ingredients largely absent from WuW’s melting pot, and perhaps in time these two highly accomplished musicians will come to add a little spice into the mix and elevate their organic creation into the realm of legitimate enjoyment, given this is only a debut. Yet for all the immersive soundscapes attentively constructed here, whether it be with cosmic synthesisers or whichever animal hoof is in season, it fails to surpass the most integral criteria; that of being an engaging experience. Unfortunately for WuW, all other commendable achievements to speak of dwindle into irrelevancy when such an important hurdle is left un-surmounted.
