Yann Tiersen - Dust Lane

Multi-instrumentalist, film composer and solo artist Yann Tiersen’s 6th studio album, 'Dust Lane' is a large-scale, cinematic affair – perhaps not surprising given Tiersen’s work in the movies, and that the album was produced by former Sigur Ros collaborator Ken Thomas. The music is similar to the Franco-American style popularised by Arcade Fire; layers of strings, accordion, glockenspiel and various other instruments surround a foundation of guitar, bass, piano and drums. There is a very post-rock feel to a lot of the music on 'Dust Lane'; the track ‘Palestine’, for example, sounds like Slint with a string section – which as I’m sure you can imagine, is a very good thing. The album has quite a sombre nature overall, the musical direction swayed by Tiersen losing both his mother and one of his close friends while working on the record. Song titles like ‘Dark Stuff’, ‘Palestine’, ‘Ashes’ and ‘Till the End’ give a good idea of the sort of tone, although the latter of those is actually a somewhat more upbeat piece – though no less intense for it, building to a cacophony of drums, guitars and chanting, before crashing back to a piano and strings outro. For my money, this is the strongest track on the record, although it might just be matched by the album’s closer, ‘Fuck Me’. As crass as the title might seem, it’s actually a passionate call from the song’s narrator to their lover; the song’s message seems to be that life is short, death comes quick, so embrace the ones you love and do the things you want to do. Pretty uplifting stuff, and the music matches that feeling, with male and female vocals on a catchy melody, with those amazing string parts working once again with the guitars, flutes, drums and heaven knows what else. 'Dust Lan'e is what one would hope for from a musician and composer of Tiersen’s quality; a diverse, absorbing, atmospheric album which takes the listener through a number of moods and styles while remaining accessible and enjoyable to listen to.

Track Listing:-

1 Amy
2 Dust Lane
3 Dark Stuff
4 Palestine
5 Chapter 19
6 Ashes
7 Till The End
8 Fuck Me

Band Links:-

http://yanntiersen.com/
https://www.facebook.com/yanntiersen.o
https://twitter.com/yanntiersen
https://www.youtube.com/user/YannTiers
https://plus.google.com/11437963053820
https://www.songkick.com/artists/34968