Yann Tiersen
Skyline
Mute / Playground

Skyline is French avant-garde musician Yann Tiersen's seventh studio album. It succeeds last years critically acclaimed Dust Lane, released almost exactly on the same date as Dust Lane was a year ago.

Skyline continues where Dust Lane left off. Like on the predecessor the sounscape is a wistful dream, made of fuzzing electric guitars, vintage synths, strings, piano and almost celestial choir vocals. The sounds swaying between the fanfaric and the gravely earth-bound. This is not to say Tiersen in any way repeats himself, its on the contrary. He takes his distinct sound further, into a even more deluding lightness.

The album opens with "Another Shore", a guitar driven majestic choir stricken instrumental that descends into the bitter-sweet screaking elegance of "I'm Gonna Live Anyhow". Then there is the distressed "Monuments", which is followed by the flourishingly misty "The Gutter" and the mighty chillingly centrepiece "Exit 25 Block 20". The rest of Skyline continues in the same pattern of extravagant minimalism, with violently ethereal "Hesitation Wound", "Forgive me" that leaks of longing and want of redemption, and chiming accusive "The Trial" before the sublime disoriented slow-core closure "Vanishing Point".

Yann Tiersen has with Skyline again delivered an almost perfect album, that beautifully balances the darker emotions against the lightest sounds.

Copyright © 2011 Aslaug O Klausen