eve by zakè & Benoît Pioulard

Comprising four side-length pieces, "eve" arose from more than a decade’s worth of sound fragments, recovered and arranged into harmonic strata like photographs in a family album. For each chapter, zakè crafted the sonic bedrock from these remnants, and Pioulard added varying orchestrations of tape-processed guitar, voice, dulcimer, melodica, and synthesizer. The results strike a perfect balance between the idiosyncratic textures of each artist, while conveying the kinship of melancholy beauty that defines their solo works.

Title track, “eve”, rises with rich, low-end swells and the subtle scrape of a turntable stylus, suggesting light hail on a metal roof, or the comforting crackle of a fire in the next room. It is pensive and patient in its slow-moving expanse, a cold sun nesting behind gray clouds. “frost” sets in on swirls of Pioulard’s reverent voice, progressing into windswept drones and shimmering bells, which ripple across the stereo field throughout its glacial second half.

Side three, “pine”, evokes the imposing stature and strength of its namesake, and the eerie union of comfort and mystery that occurs in the depths of the forest. Across twenty minutes, a dark undercurrent is accented by soft-needle dulcimers and reedy whispers, eventually opening to a final few minutes of utter calm.

Monumental closer, “slept”, is sourced from the same sessions, and was added to round out the first anniversary, limited double-LP release of the album in late 2024. Its first half cycles in measured breaths as it builds, with buried vocal loops cresting and receding across a deeply layered whorl. Midway through, its rumbling peak leads into a barely perceptible key change, and a long-tail fade into hissing quiet and tenuous resolution. Here we find the edge of the wood, and a windless snowfall settling on an open field.

Plectrums & pictures &c. since 1984.

Let gentleness prevail.

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