LUNE TRÈS BELLE’S OVALE OUT NOW ON BOILED RECORDS
WATCH / SHARE “MOISISSURE” HERE
FRENCH EXPERIMENTAL POP ENSEMBLE PERFORMS JUNE 12 AT SUONI PER IL POPOLO IN MONTREAL
BUY / STREAM OVALE HERE
(“MOISISSURE” VIDEO STILL)
Lune très belle is the nü fusion project of Montréal composer and poet Frédérique Roy. Her music is an open form, at once unstable and reassuring: a pop neology of experimental, environmental sound. Her second album, Ovale, features the ensemble cast of Robin Dann and Phil Melanson of Toronto indie pop collagists Bernice, Samuel Gougoux of Montreal psych outfits VICTIME, Corridor, and Kee Avil), and Simon Labbé on guitars/synths. With chiming bells, percussive found sound, and alien atmospherics, Ovale embodies the allure of a shifting castle where rooms of different shapes and volumes bleed into each other. “Deliberately deliberate,” the album is a platform for Roy to explore new sounds through new collaborations, the result: a vaporous, windswept cloud of incidental jazz and daylight dreampop resonating in springtime harmony.
Marking the arrival of Lune très belle's breathtaking sophomore record is the deeply meditative pop of "Moisissure" with accompanying music video-in-miniatures by director Kyla Gilbert. Featuring prevalent melodies within the amorphous organism of the Lune très belle ensemble, "Moisissure" reflects the voluminous beauty at the heart of the album, with texts sung delicately in French. "I like this song," says Roy. "I wrote it at a time when I was living three minutes away from my practice space. I could hear the church bells ring from my home and birds and strong winds from the studio – those are part of the song. I love Phil's bells, Simon's distortion, Robin's voice in echo at the end, Sam loosely but precisely supporting the strange harmonic journey." Intuiting the movements of the song, Gilbert's video is a microscopic investigation about the tortuous path of a line and the curious objects it encounters on its way. "I love following the thread Kyla created," says Roy, "morphing textures and colours like a dance of the sight, blurring the barrier between interior and exterior."
"In making the video for Moisissure, my desire was to have a dialogue with the song and ‘perform’ the video in real time,” says Gilbert. “The objects seen in the video are part of a miniature "set" that was navigated through for each take. As such, the video captures moments of discovery and moments of fallibility and is a record of time spent between movement and music."
WATCH / SHARE “MOISISSURE” HERE
Lune très belle originated in 2016 with its debut album Ô la lune released in 2019, a raw and mostly live recording. More akin to the sound of wind chimes in waves, the recently released Ovale single “La mite” is lushly draped with melody; while “Mona” embodies the allure of a shifting castle where rooms of different dimensions and volumes bleed into each other. The result is a boldly tentative compositional experience that visits the amorphous spaces of artists like Grouper, the sonorous palette of Pat Metheny, and the pop affliction of Arthur Russell.
WATCH / SHARE “LA MITE” HERE
A patient process of care and diligence, at times involving onerous negotiations and confusion, Ovale resolves itself in the beauty of the unresolvable. Roy, who is a published poet and works by day providing alternative resources to psychiatrized people, has created in Ovale a fluid, softly whelming suite of natural music that is built on interaction and closeness. “New sounds through new collaborations” is Roy’s driving force. “I wanted to make a coherent object, truthful to my instinct.” From her elegant poetry to its beautiful articulation, Lune très belle’s Ovale is elemental and elastic – the exhale at the beginning of a new season.
BUY / STREAM OVALE HERE
ALBUM ARTWORK // HI-RES DOWNLOAD
OVALE TRACKLISTING
1. La mite
2. Refrain skylark
3. Moisissure
4. Maison
5. Refrain
6. Mona
7. Dogue
8. Siffleux
9. Œil magique
10. Refrain choral
11. Bye bye
PHOTO CREDIT: STACY LEE // HI-RES DOWNLOAD
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Jun 12 - Montreal QC - Suoni Per il Popolo @ Casa del Popolo