Review Summary: The post-rock genre is shown to it's full extent in Les Discrets' 2010 release, Septembre Et Ses Dernières Pensées.
Les Discrets is a side-project of Fursy Teyssier, one of the guys behind the band Ameoseurs, and "Septembre Et Ses Dernières Pensées" is the first full-length from Les Discrets. Les Discrets features some of the black metal elements of Ameoseurs, but with more of a shoegaze and post-rock feel to it. The sound is elegant, very atmospheric, and pleasing to listen to. This album has also been described as romantic at points, probably due to the singing being in French and how enchanting the music can be at times. "Septembre Et Ses Dernières Pensées" has a somewhat folk feel to it, with some acoustic strumming parts shown in the background. On top of this are simple, pretty sounding guitar leads that weave in and out of the song with delay and reverb. The rhythm work is almost completely supplied by the drums, which usually take on a rather simple approach, focusing on lots of cymbal work to help bring a more atmospheric sound. They can help build up as well, as shown in the blast beats in "Les Feuilles De L'Olivier". The bass is not all too apparent in this record, but some transition bass lines can be heard in the mix. Generally, the bass is supplying extra noise and sometimes following the acoustic strumming's sound.
Track Listing:
01. L'Envol Des Corbeaux
02. L'échappée
03. Les Feuilles De L'Olivier
04. Song For Mountains
05. Sur Les Quais
06. Effet De Nuit
07. Septembre Et Ses Dernières Pensées
08. Chanson D'Automne
09. Svipdagr & Freyja
10. Une Matinée D'Hiver
The singing in this album is completely in French, which I do not speak, so I obviously have no idea what is actually going on. There are English translations available online, though. The lyrics are very descriptive, talking about the landscape of a mountain like area that the main character wants to escape to. The man then apparently meets a woman who intrigues him in his city. Soon after that, in the title track, there is an atmospheric spoken word intro by a female, giving a very pessimistic view of how she sees the two people progressing.
"I can’t believe we'll be wandering souls forever,
waiting for a promised heaven made invisible
by intense light.
Searching within old memories denies us Eternity."
The male persists, however, and the two end up taking a trip to the mountain's peak. The final track begins with this:
"We finally took this trip,
one afternoon in autumn.
Our feet touch the peak of the mountains
And we sleep next to each other, hand in hand."
This coincides with the album artwork, which is like a sketch of a couple standing before a cloaked behemoth, only showing a cone-like nose and a hand coming out of the cloak. The norm delivery for the lyrics on this album are melodic, entrancing leads approached humbly in the music. The only time the singing seems to be somewhat different is during the more intense parts of songs like "Les Feuilles De L'Olivier" and "Effet De Nuit". They are still melodic, but have a bit more power behind them.
Les Discrets have shown to have taken an interesting perspective on the shoegaze and post-rock genres, combining folk and black metal elements to create a very nice, avant-garde sound. "Septembre Et Ses Dernières Pensées" is a great album with a wide array of vibes, and implements a romantic theme very nicely. They are doing a good job at showing just how much potential the post-rock and shoegaze genres have at creating new sounds. Anyone interested should definitely "Effet De Nuit" a spin, and then see if they like it to get the whole album.
