Album review

Syd Matters

Brotherocean

Paris 

02/09/2010 - 

The dreamlike fourth album from Syd Matters, Brotherocean, defies current trends and confirms that creative juices are still flowing for the Parisian folk rock quintet. Its theme is the ocean, and all the mystery and underwater sounds of the sea.

After their flawless album, Ghost Days, released in 2008, some dark rumours were creeping through the grapevine last year. Some were saying that Syd Matters were lacking in inspiration and on the point of collapsing. Brotherocean is enough to reassure their most worried fans. After eight years together, the skittish Jonathan Morali and his four increasingly conspicuous associates are still refining their art.

Inspired by literary writers like Théodore de Banville and Gabriel Garcia Márquez, this new opus paints a parallel world that mingles the sea, unbridled nature and references to the ancient world, like Hadrian’s Wall. Their imaginative style is reminiscent of seventies progressive rock, backed up by the use of flutes, cellos and vintage keyboards.

In that respect, Brotherocean continues in the dreamlike, sensitive vein of Ghost Days. But where their previous album featured omnipresent folk guitar work and intimate atmospheres, this new offering fascinates and transports us into a sometimes disturbing half-dream. Slapped in the middle of its heavenly melodies comes a jumble of haunting backing vocals (Hallalcsillag), repetitive rhythms, a highly experimental electro blip (River Sister) and a voice drowned in underwater echoes (We are Invisible).

Fans of Syd Matters’ more pop sound will find food in the track Hi Life with its a superb, heady piano riff. Others will appreciate the impressive inventiveness and pure poetry that have made them one of today’s most original French bands. 

Syd Matters Brotherocean (Because) 2010

On tour throughout France, at the Bataclan in Paris on 2 November 2010.

Jérôme   Pichon

Translation : Anne-Marie  Harper