Melodium - Lixiviat

by Maarten Schiethart

published: 13 / 7 / 2013

Label: Melodium
Format: CD

Meandering electronica on gorgeous latest album from Melodium, the project of French musician and composer Laurent Girard

Review

The process of leaching, in chemistry and geology for example, bears the meaning to the word, plus the thought behind Melodium's self-released album, 'Lixiviat', itself a concise collection of eleven tracks in less than twenty-five minutes. All track names begin with the letter 'D'. Opening this set is 'Diagonal', upon which your initial thoughts get moved on to crossroads. Next, 'Double Speak' provides a little exercise in introverted footwork, whilst a calm beauty arises. Compositional minimal house on 'Decay' then lowers the tone, which leads to 'Devotion', which at 3:22 in time is the longest track off 'Lixiviat'. At this stage composure and composition are already wedded together merrily. The pulsating grace of 'Density' captures one of Melodium's familiar tunes, now stripped to the bone. As a consequence of which it becomes the theme music in Melodium's oeuvre. It rings my ear, even when I guise as a daft punk. Next is 'Disaster', with its post-Kraftwerk gone krautrock riff. A raw beauty derives from the hefty puddle of electronica, and once dried out you come to the conclusion you've just built an autobahn between the left and right ears. After 'Doubt' and 'Disconnection' puts you in a D Minor mood, 'Delirium' is the second gentlest sound on the album, like a digitally rocking tugboat on this stream of consciousness. 'Dream', the gentlest track, uses computer glitches, similar to the ones that we've almost had forgotten about. Logic would have it that 'Lixiviat' in D Minor should end with 'Decomposition', but the gradual stripping of music comes to its close on 'Dead End'. Offering another friendly, minimalistic meandering musique to remind you of the still of the moment, the music from Melodium soothes the ear once again.