Bolbec

First press 2024. Axel and Barth share, Victime de l’Aube could be the title of an erotic zombie movie. Unfortunately, it doesn’t exist yet. It just describes this moving feeling when night and dreams end while the morning sun sets the bedroom curtain alight”. Perhaps that’s what the duo had in mind when recording album opener “Rue Nue”, with its mysterious and almost spine-tingling synth motifs. ‘Victime De L'aube’ showcases Bolbec's ambitious creative vision, transforming an array of instrumentation into poetic musical pieces that conjure moods and places. You can hear traces of Mal Waldron’s ‘Warm Canto’, and the ‘Shoplifter’ soundtrack by Haruomi Hosono, on the beautifully understated “Jaki” and closing piece, “Nuitée”, but the addition of the 77 rhythm section across six songs, and members of the Rouen Normandy Opera House wind section on four, add further depth and texture across the album. Album standout "Vengeance Tropicale" is a spirited jazz number with an almost joropo swing, Piero Piccioni meets Aldemaro Romero perhaps. Whilst "Feuille D'orage”, is a beautiful bossa jazz number, again showcasing the Bolbec’s singular sound and musicality. Elsewhere, "À L'instar Du Flair", transports the listener on a modal jazz journey, recalling Yusef Lateef, and the evocative title track, "Victime De L'aube”, promises to captivate listeners with it’s walking bass and suspenseful atmospherics. Bolbec’s sound is an eclectic mix of deep jazz with the art of esoteric soundtracks, through lenses of electronica, folk, classical, and more, that is sure to captivate listeners on initial and subsequent hearings.