MELODIUM - A Possible Way Of Spending Time

A classically trained pianist, Laurent Girard discovered electronic music only five years ago, when he made the acquisition of a synthesizer. Two years later, he sent a first tape to London-based label Tugboat, then a second a few weeks later. Label boss Glenn Johnson passed them onto Static Caravan who released a first 7”. Followed a few more singles for a variety of labels and a first album, QuietNoiseArea, published by Disasters By Choice in 2001. These releases as Melodium have gained Girard a lot of recognition around the world. However, his native country still seems reticent, but all could be changing with this second album.
Based in Nantes, South Brittany, Girard has teamed up with new French label Peter I’m Flying! to release A Possible Way Of Spending Time. Chronologically, this album is actually his third, its predecessor being released later on this year by New York label Audiodregs. The music created by Girard belongs to a long line of melancholic electronica, fed with beautiful sounds and acoustic elements. Reminiscent of Boards Of Canada, Isan or Múm, A Possible Way Of Spending Time is a fascinating collection of warm melodic instrumentals, partly built around guitar and piano sounds wrapped in blankets of analogue waves. His crisp languorous beats and soundscapes might not be entirely original, but Girard demonstrates here a truly personal approach to compositions and textures. From the delicate Miljo-Zon, Pause 5 or Modulo Pi to the more upfront Anna-thema, Yesterday and Trois Idées Fixes, his minimal structures seem to develop in multiple directions at once, concentrating each time on the evocative elements of the track more than on the technical input. The closing track, Composé Organique Volatil, is a perfect demonstration of the fine balance achieved by Melodium. Here, Girard works simultaneously on electronic and acoustic grounds, shifting between them at regular interval by inserting new melodic lines, to finally amalgamate them.
If the album lacks variety slightly, it is however very consistent and interesting all the way through. The music created by Laurent Girard is refined and subtle; his classical background proves to integrate perfectly with his more contemporary form of expression. Melodium is definitely a name to remember.