These days so much new music is released that its easy for some quality sounds to slip under the radar – and sometimes it’s knocked back simply because it doesn’t look right. One such album is due this Friday, 11th August. The artist is LES IMPRIMÉS and the album is, ‘Reverie’. French band, odd title, eclectic artwork (above)… does it really look the business? Well, as my old mate Bo Diddley once said, you can’t judge a book by it cover! Beneath the surrealist artwork and strange names lurks a rther good album – not, we need to say, classic or conventional soul, but a music with a definite soulful feel and lots of attraction.
First let’s clear up one thing. Despite the name, Les Imprimés isn’t a French band; rather it’s the alter ego of Danish musician MORTEN MARTENS. He was born, raised, and works in Kristiansand, Norway and he prefers to keep a low profile despite winning the Norwegian equivalent of the Grammy.
On his album ‘‘Rêverie’ (“dreaming?”) he plays nearly every instrument on the recordings and handles production and arrangements too. So, yes, almost a one-man show but he does create a unique and rather beguiling sound. The lead single was a gentle ‘Falling Away’ and it set the tone for the rest of the collection. Other attractions include the ballad ‘You’, the rumbling ‘Our Love’, the sweet, break up tune ‘Love And Flowers’ and the gorgeous low-rider flavoured slowie ‘It’s Over’. But dip in anywhere here and if you’re reasonably broad minded you’ll find lots to enjoy.
How to describe the soundscape of ‘Rêverie’? Well, we’ve already said it’s unique, but throughout you’ll hear flavours of people like Mayer Hawthorne, Eli Reed, the Sextones and the whole Colemine thing. Describing his sound Morten says: “It’s soul music, but I don’t exactly have the soul voice. But I do it my own way, in a way that’s mine”. Recommended and out now via Big Crown!
