tdlt02
Strong elements of the golden era of Library Music vibe!
Capricorn Avenue is my standout track from this great album from the talented Isolde...
carve.your.niche
This is without a doubt my favorite album of 2023. I don't listen to tons of music that sounds like this, but I was enchanted by the general vibe of this record.
Favorite track: Ghosting.
H.L.
We spent this year's summer holiday in Iceland and so I collected some indie, rock, pop and soft metal albums for the three week round trip. "Oh Dear" took my attention first with the jazzy, 60s/70s influenced instrumentals "Capricorn Avenue" and "Bed & Breakfast" and short time later with the catchy indie pop songs "Something French" and "Batterie". One of the main albums on our holiday playlist!
Favorite track: Something French.
Isolde Lasoen is not only drummer with DAAN, but also a versatile musician, singer, TV personality and frontwoman of her very own band, whose career takes a new turn with a brand new and ambitious album. “This is 100% what I want, this record is 100% ME”, she says about ‘Oh Dear’, which is out on 8 March.
The seeds of ‘la nouvelle Isolde’ were sown in 2021, when Isolde had a big hit in Belgium with her take on Aphrodite’s Child’s cult hit ‘The Four Horsemen’. The success gave her the desire to work on a new (‘eccentric’ in her own words) solo album, without having to stick to the rules of mainstream music. The idea was to incorporate all her influences, everything she loves, in the record: from her education as a jazz drummer to a wide variety of genres, from vintage soundtrack, psychedelia and progressive rock to French music from the 70s. Less usually means more for Isolde, but in her music she embraces bombast, with rich orchestrations, elaborate instrumentations and compelling harmonies.
It’s pretty difficult to file the album under one particular genre, then. Or is it? ‘This record IS my style. Every song has its own Isolde-like little world’, she says about the album’s 10 tracks, ranging from jazzy, melancholic and groovy to poppy and everything in between. The songs have the cinematic feel of Morricone, Mancini, François De Roubaix or early John Barry and evoke the obscure baroque pop of David Axelrod, suffused with a hint of indie à la Goldfrapp, Air or Sebastien Tellier. The opening and title track is nostalgic and atmospheric indie that has Isolde written all over it. The moving and symphonic ‘Douce Mélancolie’, starring French cult artist Bertrand Burgalat, not only seduced Belgium, but also France, where it reached the biggest radio stations and the homepage of influential music magazine ‘Les Inrocks’. ‘Oh Dear’ is packed with treasures like these, and lush instrumentals like ‘Bed & Breakfast’ and ‘Capricorn Avenue’ sit next to brilliant pop gems like ‘Something French’ and ‘Batterie’, with an irresistible parlando by DAAN, evoking the spirit of Gainsbourg.
Isolde wrote, composed and styled ‘Oh Dear’ all by herself. She built every song – now more than ever – up from the drums, vibraphone and her own voice as an instrument, which has become a signature sound and forms layered melodic lines that often define the hooks of the songs. Together with producer Tobie Speleman, she has worked hard to perfect the sound of the drums, the driving force of everything she does in music. Wietse Meys wrote the sublime arrangements for strings and horns, and for the recording sessions of the album Isolde could rely on her beloved and talented musicians.
The stunning result will be released on 8 March and presented to the audience in Belgian and Dutch venues that will do justice to the album’s overwhelming effect. Isolde Lasoen has put her heart and soul in ‘Oh Dear’. This is HER album, and the album that will define her as a Grande Dame of Belgian music.
credits
released March 8, 2023
Recorded at Audio Workx in Hoogeloon, Netherlands
Composed and written by Isolde Lasoen
Produced and mixed by Tobie Speleman
Mastered by Jeffrey De Gans
Isolde Lasoen, in Belgium most know as drummer in bands like DAAN and Absynthe Minded, also has her solo project. As a
singer, drummer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, writer, arranger, she’s a real DIY and independent artist.
Isolde’s music is full of psychedelic melodies, epic-feeling compositions, dramatic chords and orchestral string arrangements. Less is more, except in music....more
Like so many others, this came like a bolt out of the blue and, even though it's well before payday, I had to have this astonishing album on vinyl to prove it exists. The feel of the tunes makes me feel like the Impressions do, Curtis Mayfield, the big spaces and instinctive horns and stuff drifting in and out. Great grooves and I can see lots of ghosts nodding along to this with big smiles on their faces. At last! Anthony Cottrell
Nicole Mercedes caught our ears with a debut LP in 2012. She's back with a new group and an inventive LP of folk and chamber pop. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 7, 2016
Shoegaze ist die Kunst des Dröhnens, doch „Everything Is Alive“ setzt diese Elemente nur sparsam ein. Statt Hall- und Zerr-Sounds aufzutürmen, schäumt die Musik in feinen Bläschen über.
https://tortue.substack.com/i/140348114/slowdive-everything-is-alive-dead-oceans Daniel Welsch