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Sébastien Schuller is incontestably an artist who takes you by surprise. Sébastien Schuller is a classically trained percussionist who became an accomplished and eclectic multi-instrumentalist over the years, composing and interpreting his own work, backed by a few hand picked friends, including Paul Hanford (Brothers in Sound, Sancho). A thirtysomething from Les Yvelines in the Parisian suburbs, Sébastien Schuller thrives on enhancing sounds of acoustic and natural resonance with touches of electronica. Throughout the album, which balances tantric instrumentals with tinges of pop you can almost dance to, a thread of tortuous and contrasting emotions is unravelled. The mood is predominantly melancholic, but, as in life, there is a constant undercurrent of hope. Dreams can sometimes become reality, even though ghosts of the past inevitably haunt the present. The more you listen to "Happiness", the further you will be drawn into its playful secrets: the vocals tease the listener with a game of hide and seek, first concealing themselves behind the filters of machines, then suddenly being revealed, raw and bare, before retreating again to let the atmospheric music speak for itself. In short, there is one theme which perseveres throughout the album which is as rich as it is diverse: that of a love for the sounds and melodies so strong it's almost tangible. Or maybe it is just the constant strive for perfectionism and the pursuit of happiness which is a never-ending quest.

After releasing his debut EP, Weeping Willow, three years ago, French multi-instrumentalist Sébastian Schuller has now readied his debut album Happiness: a stunning journey into a wide-open terrain of committed acoustic and electronic music. The Radiohead (circa Kid A) comparisons are inescapable, as he weds standard pop structures with warm doses of electronica and restrained psychedelia. The album’s title might seem a little ironic, as the sweeping soundscapes are strung linearly together in a mist of despair, but Schuller isn’t all about pulling frowns. Delve a little deeper and you’ll find his playful nature in “Ride Along the Cliff,” which ends with the line “We could lay back on the beach drinking beers the whole night,” or “Le Dernier Jour” — a lengthy instrumental that reveals a struggle between finishing off as either a genteel lullaby or an experimental freak out. Happiness is an inspiring piece of affectionate music that really knows how to pull those heartstrings and get the required emotional response from the listener that Schuller is expecting.

purlieu wrote:My currently unnamed band - Our King Is Dead, Retreat To The Sewers