Ensemble - Ensemble

Ensemble

Ensemble
Fatcat Records.

SCQ Rating: 59%

Olivier Alary, the European who now resides in Montreal under the moniker Ensemble, is not a familiar name to most. Although he released Sketch Proposals, his debut in 2000, Alary is best known for remixing some Medulla material for Bjork back in 2004. His anonymity is in many ways the foremost impression we’re to arrive at when picking up this album, not only because he’s chosen to call himself Ensemble, but because his collaborations consume more ink and fanfare than the fact that this is Alary’s baby. Whether focusing on the presence of Cat Power and Lou Barlow over Alary himself was his choice or FatCat’s, there’s no doubting how pinnacle the collaborations are in keeping Ensemble afloat.

The disc opens with ‘Summerstorm’, a track perfectly titled as it evokes all the open window breezes that characterize that first warm day of Spring. With swift live-drum percussion keeping Alary’s electronic swellings mobile, it’s a liberating opener, radiating warmth while displaying Ensemble’s considerable production skills in a mid-song breakdown that lulls in an ambient stillness of subtle strings, washes of sound, and a well-timed saxophone. ‘Loose’ is significant in the same vein, pretty but benign, climaxing the album in a tragic expansion of orchestral heaving.

While Alary’s knowledge of the studio is undeniable and his songwriting is impressive, Ensemble’s weakness is its gently pacifying demeanor, which on several examples feels destined to become coffee-house fodder. And because I can point fingers all I want, half of the problem is Mileece’s vocals, which have the irritatingly coy likeness to most late 90s down-tempo acts that don’t release records anymore. Alary isn’t leaving much of an impression with his vocals either, but at least he’s aware that he needs female accompaniment to pass these songs. Sadly, the two songs that feature Mileece have a trivial feel due to that choice of accompaniment.

Considering the pace in which this record was stitched together (2002 through 2005), Alary’s infrequent recording doesn’t cut into the album’s sonic focus, largely thanks to ambient interludes that tie the songs in almost cinematic fashion. ‘Still’ is just that, but shows a promising future in ambient recording while ‘Unrest’ could be a field-recording of that aforementioned storm. Although these passages effortlessly weave to their neighbouring songs, last track ‘For Good’ (which is another elongated field-recording) slams the listener over the head with the truth that Ensemble is really five songs that poorly disguise as a full-length album.

The real stories here, as Fatcat advertised/prophesized all over Ensemble’s packaging, are the two main collaborations. Featuring Lou Barlow of Sebadoh, ‘One Kind Two Minds’ is an eloquent love song that swoons in electronic tinkering before culminating in a barrage of romantic fuzz and warped guitar. ‘Disown, Delete’ is less forceful but ideal for Chan Marshall, who moves the moody affair with her multi-tracked low timbre. Both of these highlights are pop songs remixed, ironically pointing out which side of the studio glass both the collaborators and Alary work best.