With a soft piano part and controlled feedback emerging from murky tape hiss on the opening "Against All Odds" -- not the Phil Collins song, but imagine if -- it's little surprise that on their self-titled debut, French band Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud are riding a major Mogwai/Godspeed You Black Emperor! influence at the start, though guest performer Ashley Rugge's spoken vocals have a more directly integrated feel than the latter band's sample approach. There's an expected focus on the gentle and spacious, where power is implied rather than imposed until something suddenly lets loose -- the soft music box tones on "A Stolen Life" seem to float in a vast space shaped by cymbals and echo until, at once surprisingly and yet expectedly, a huge, triumphant arrangement of stately guitar and drums kicks in, arcing up and out. Calling a song "Motionless" might almost be begging the question initially, but first the calm circular keyboard part and distant floating feedback emerge into the mix -- and then again, the big wallop moment also happens toward the end. The group pulls out all the stops when it comes to the final songs on the album, with "Backward" having the better time of it thanks to a lovely part four minutes in when guitar and piano contrast in tense, gripping detail. (Admittedly, the lengthy silence in the middle could just be for hiding a bonus track, but with a style like this, one can't be sure.) Even the shorter songs such as "Such a Waste" and the string-led "The Sun Is Already Gone" all work in the vein of vastness, controlled power, and elegance, something that is undeniably emotionally affecting and at the same time familiar, perhaps almost too familiar. There are moments when the general flow twists just enough -- an actually mean-sounding growl in the guitars toward the conclusion of "The Leaden Sky" is a great moment -- but Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud are exploring too well-trodden ground to yet make their own mark. -Ned Raggett

Towering waves of electric guitar that crash on the beach and gently recede back into the sonic ocean. Undulating swells of strings floating above slow and deliberate bass drones. Clattering percussion that accents the atmosphere one minute and drives the storm forward the next. Shimmering haze and textural fog overlaying everything. Sounds like Sigur Ros, doesn’t it? Or maybe Explosions in the Sky? Or maybe both at once. French duo Guillaume Pintout (guitars, keys) and Cyrille Holodiuk (drums, percussion), AKA Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud, clearly know their post rock playbook, manipulating their instruments with as much skill and verve as their better-known contemporaries. Joined by cellist Haluka Chimoto and bassist Damien Ossart, the duo has little difficulty evoking the aural dreamscape of a roiling ocean of emotion, tossing the boats about one moment and becalming them the next. Unsurprisingly, the record gains strength as it goes, with later tracks like “Leaves across the roads” and “The leaden sky” breathing with the most power. It’s difficult to say what ESLHaC offer that other post rock bands don’t, but at the same time, if you’re a fan of the style, you won’t be able to help but love this.

ESLHAC make a sophisticated blend of post-rock, shoegazer, and neoclassical music. Against All Odds adds recited poetry courtesy of guest artist Ashley Rugge, whilst A Stolen Life combines cello and shoegazerish atmospheric noise with the music box-like tones of the glockenspiel. Such A Waste is intelligent indierock with hushed vocals and intermittent bursts of crunchy guitar noise. The Air is On Fire is a shoegazer instrumental with a massive wall of atmospheric noise, which subsides to reveal gentle glockenspiel and sophisticated neoclassical strings. The Leaden Sky combines forceful indierock with reflective cello. Where Earth Meets Sky features a gentle, almost folky, guitar melody, atmospheric soundscaping in various degrees of noisiness, and the creaking sound of a boat on the ocean, as backdrop for more of Ashley Rugge's poetry. Leaves Across the Roads begins as a plaintive guitar piece accompanied by the hum of traffic. Six minutes into the track, the band throw in a jolt of guitar noise and crashing cymbals, which gradually swells up to become a wall of shoegazerish noise of epic proportions. Backward is an atmospheric soundscape with a touch of neoclassical piano, ending with some hypnotic repetitive hums and clicks. It is very good to hear a band doing something more creative with the post-rock genre, rather than rigidly sticking to the standard heard-it-all-before drone cliches.

Uscito inizialmente come autoproduzione nel settembre del 2010, questo notevole esordio per il duo francese Every Silver Lining Has A Cloud viene ora riproposto in tutti i canali ufficiali grazie all'interessamento della Projekt, col suo deus ex machina Sam Rosenthal che, evidentemente, da attento osservatore della scena faticava a vedere un'opera di cotanto valore relegata al mondo delle produzioni in proprio e delle diffusioni limitate. Detto fatto, ed in meno di un anno troviamo l'album ripubblicato dalla storica label americana, senza mutazioni nell'artwork o aggiunte nella scaletta dei brani. L'esperto duo, con alle spalle anni di attività sotto vari monicker, si muove tra la linea di confine immaginaria che passa tra post-rock e shoegaze, per intenderci nei territori di Greenhaus, Sigur Rós, Mira ed anche degli (ultimi) Anathema, sicuramente senza reinventare nulla, ma senza dubbio mostrando la giusta sensibilità ed ispirazione. Nelle dieci tracce che compongono questo debut eponimo le melodie delicate, i ritmi pacati e l'incedere gentile fanno da trampolino per gli inesorabili, intensi e coinvolgenti crescendo strumentali, sospinti da un muro di chitarre struggenti e da un drumming sempre puntuale quando ce n'è bisogno, e solo sporadicamente compaiono delle parti vocali a complemento del flusso sonoro (i sussurri di "Such A Waste", gli spoken words di "Against All Odds" e della tenue ma emotivamente travolgente "Where Earth Meets Sea"). È un suono spesso dolce, che sa cullare come in un viaggio oltre le nuvole, ma che sa accendersi con imponenti fiammate (post)rock ("The Leaden Sky", "Leaves Across The Roads"), oppure farsi più sinfonico, come in "The Sun Is Already Gone", dove il prezioso contributo del violoncellista Haluka Chimoto, quotato musicista classico, diviene ancor più importante che altrove per catturare la giusta emozione. Basterebbe da solo un pezzo come "The Air Is On Fire", con la sua melodiosa pacatezza ed i suoi toccanti crescendo elettrici, a riassumere in pieno la formula del duo, che senza dubbio ha debuttato con un lotto di canzoni ben congegnate ed arrangiate, offrendo una certa varietà che altrove sarebbe mancata. Il primo importante mattone è stato posato, e da artisti cui non difetta il talento è legittimo attendersi una parabola artistica degna della massima attenzione: il tempo ci dirà dove sapranno arrivare, ma il consiglio è di seguirli con la dovuta attenzione già da ora. -Roberto Alessandro Filippozzi

Elegant music that follows in the footsteps of the band Explosions in the Sky with touches of The Church. Mostly instrumental, the music ranges from moody guitar melodies dripping distortion to lighter touches, like strings and xylophone, that leaven the raging electric guitar crescendos.

An echo of Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” theme with spoken word is a deceptive opening to this deeply immersive album. By the second song, “A Stolen Life” this impressive debut shifts into backwards glockenspiels’ mournful cellos, plaintive acoustic guitar before rising in a slow boil with tremolo guitar riffs that launch into an end of the world paean of sustained guitar, cello and surging percussion.

Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud is French band centered on guitarist Guillaume Pintout and drummer Cyrille Holodiuk. On their eponymous debut, they follow in a post Explosions in the Sky modality. Mostly instrumental, they already have a mature sound. Pintout’s moody guitar melodies dripping distortion waxes and wanes revealing lighter touches including xylophone and the serene cello of Haluka Chimoto that leaven the raging electric guitar crescendos.

Ever Silver Lining favor the tremolo guitar approach of the Japanese band Mono, but have Explosions in the Sky’s sense of dynamic exposition. There is an even more symphonic sound in their arrangements. Sometimes somber, occasionally harrowing, often triumphal, Every Silver Lining is making post-dystopian soundscape that offers hope in the chaos.

Los franceses de Every Silver Lining Has A Cloud debutan con un álbum colmado de un exquisito, emocional y atmosférico post rock, de ese que nos hace detenernos y pensar en todo lo que nos rodea, sin una visión muy optimista, pero encontrando la belleza en las cosas más simples. Hablar de capas sonoras se hace poco entre las vivas melodías que recorren cada uno de sus diez temas. ‘Against All Odds’, de apacibles sonidos del mar y la poesía de una mujer, es la bienvenida a esta joya. Delicadamente intenso es ‘The Leaden Sky’ y sombrío ‘The Sun Is Already Gone’, donde el cello entrega el nebuloso espíritu a este cuarteto, quienes continúan con el legado post rockero de encontrar el climax en relampagueantes riffs shoegazer, calmados por dulces armonías. Gran acierto del sello Projekt, más ligado al gothic. -Cristián Carrasco

Projekt Records have released this largely instrumental release from a French quartet. This Debut album is by and large a contemplative shoegaze record without the vocals. There are many excursions into the orchestral and grand imaginative escapisms as they explore a variety of sounds and designs. It all flows and blows along with quiet moments of gentle calm juxtaposing the heavier distortion. The band blend a variety of percussion and string along with keyed instruments to deliver nerve wringing sounds. It is pure music experimenta, unrestrained by the walls and bars that popular song writing adheres to.

This project is formed by the French duo of Guillaume Pintout and Cyrille Holodiuk with Haluka Chimoto providing cello and Damien Ossart on bass. This debut album is a great introduction for this band, providing us with their mostly instrumental take on slow, post-rock and guitar-laced shoegazer sound. The album ebbs and flows across a spellbinding selection of ten tracks that will make the listener swoon with delight.

For the most part this album is a somber, slow, melancholy wave of sound from ambient soundscapes to soaring guitars and a subtle mix of percussion. The tone is set right from the start with the long, slow and quietly building introduction of "Against All Odds" which features the sounds of waves crashing as the music slowly builds and we hear the soft poetic female spoken word caressing the building soundscapes. This quietly fades into "A Stolen Life" which again builds slowly with the sweet sounds of a music box as a foundation. This moves along slowly building to a typical shoegazer climax with soaring guitars and crashing percussion leaving the listener breathless and then dropping off into the soft sweet music box sounds again. This theme carries on again later in the album with "The Air Is On Fire". This hypnotic track features a bit more percussion to move along a bit more with the dark and somber moods. In my mind the cello really becomes a stellar key element on this piece as it slowly moves along and builds, then fades and builds again to a soaring, grinding climax that sends chills up and down my spine as I listen as it carries on for nearly nine minutes.

Nearly every piece lifts the listener up like this on waves of carressing sounds that are so mesmerizing and captivating. I'm not usually a huge fan of instrumental pieces or albums, however with this one the music creates it's own vocals, seeming to beckon the listener into a dreamy, yet at times harsh landscape of music. The album moves along through piece after piece, slowly building to a deafening crescendo only to drop off once more to an ambient hush, biding time until it slowly builds again. A few pieces remain softer and slower without the required crescendo, just settling for more of a pieceful setting, remaining haunting and beautiful such as the introductory track, or later "The Sun Is Already Gone" and finally toward the end of the album we have more poetic, soft-spoken female words on "Where Earth Meets Sea". This serves as sort of the antithesis of the previous track "The Leaden Sky" which is a driving, harsh soundscape of grinding guitars that kick off from the start and then fade only to build up to a dynamic onslaught of harshness. After "Where Earth Meets Sea" we come to the long semi-finale in "Leaves across the roads" which starts with crashing waves and slowly building guitar to the grand, torturous finale. When it all finally drops off after over eleven minutes, we're just left with the final piece, another very long selection "Backward". This piece just builds over layers of guitars that after only four minutes drops off to a ticking sound that goes on and on for another nine minutes for a truly dynamic, experimental finale to this stellar album.

That brings the album to a close along with this review. It's another great album to add to any fan's collection, be sure to check it out. Rating: 4/5

It all started the evening of the 22nd of September 2010 when the guys from KWOON arrived in Bucharest for Experimental Friday. Their drummer told me among other things, that he also released a debut album together with fellow KWOON guitarist, something tranquil, but still Post-Rock. So he gives me the freshly edited album and he simply recommends me to listen to it when I will have the time.

Wonderful moments followed, accompanying the event that had the French band share the stage with CECILIA EYES and for a couple of days onwards I allowed myself to remain under the aura of the 2 superb performances in Bucharest. Then, at some stage, I got reminded of this album, randomly, finding it in the pile of stuff left after the concert, so I played it while in my car. Well, I was immediately struck by what I was hearing! Romantic, melancholic, epic, ambient, dreamy, sad, melodic… superb! Along the latest CECILIA::EYES and the MONO DVD, this album has climbed to the top of my favorite Shoegaze/Post-Rock materials of 2010!

You could said that if you know Projekt’s more dreamy type of artist you can predict what this might be like but it’s distinctly individual so I’ll start, if you don’t mind, by quoting the all-encompassing opening paragraph of an intensely artistic press release. “Dramatic, emotional, melancholic, epic, dynamic shoegazer/post-rock in the spirit of Sigur Ros, Flying Saucer Attack, Mira, Mogwai and Labradford.” I won’t pretend to know much about these bands, in fact there’s two I have never even heard, but I can testify to the illustrious qualities bestowed upon this album. It’s impressively deep, moody, artistic and peculiarly restful, while capable of turning from desultory breeze to sumptuous tempest but will be of interest to more than geophysicists.

It’s all the work of a duo from France, who their friends know as Guillaume Pintout and Cyrille Holodiuk, whose past or present includes bands Kwoon and Lost In Heaven of which I know precisely zero. Guillame is credited as guitarist, Cyrille with percussion, but of course there’s more than just that involved, although not as much as I presumed. They have Damien Ossart on bass and Haluka Chimoto on cello, but what I figured was synth work turns out to be layered guitar. There’s also some spoken word wibbling by Ashley Rugge, who I can confidently reveal is an American poet. (I have my sources!)

I am for the most part an old school kind of dunce, although I don’t mean I live in a museum. A Night In The Museum 3, with me filling in for that curly haired chap, would simply involve me glaring at a computer screen looking for new things while the exhibits came to life around me. If they made too much noise I would simply shut the office door. Yes, oh psychic ones, I have spent the day considering some old Ruts bootlegs, but I have also been listening to The Ghost Effect, Atrium Animae, Shino, The Knutz and The Clash. It’s a healthy diet, and somewhere in the midst of it all an album like this makes perfect sense, can be made to feel entirely at home, and can captivate even my rusting ears. Admittedly the first time I heard it I did slip out after half an hour, as I was in need of some urgent music, only to return and find it remonstrating furiously with itself, whereupon I realised all was not what I had imagined. So if you’ll excuse me, this is where I get a bit tedious.

‘Against All Odds’ makes for a spell of quiet dignity, a voice muttering poetic things about the wind while a chiming keyboard meanders idly under a shimmering disturbance that I assume is this guitar effect? Very pretty, and the twinkling ‘A Stolen Life’ sweeps slowly, softly maudlin cello traits borne aloft and shielded by a daunting guitar overflow that will gives you Twin Peaks flashbacks, which I always find is a good thing.

There are modest frills in ‘Such A Waste’ with sunny guitar seeping along until threatened by a heavier riff supposedly ready to unleash but stuck in gear intentionally, as the song dwindles away. That trick hints of dramatic interests but in ‘The Air Is On Fire’ we find only a sleepy guitar over increasingly sturdy drums, the cello muscling in on the action and other vibrant guitar oscillating discreetly until you get to think of this as shoegaze on antidepressants. ‘Motionless’ takes this on a step further, seemingly more simple and steady while emanating with even more power before tapering off, which is almost a relief. You probably need a physicist to explain how they achieve this overwhelmingly polite intensity.

‘The Sun Is Already Gone’ sounds like a classical dirge on one level, but flushed with exquisite vigour, and a stately rigour, making it almost close to a form of Ethereal Industrial, which makes no sense, but there you go. Blunt guitar trauma is again threatened in ‘The Leaden Sky’ but it trails away into ambient tranquillity before evocative strings tease your mood into reflective patterns. This gradually gives way to a more ominous onset of guitar turbulence, bolstered by a thickening percussive presence. It just sort of stops, which is the only letdown on the album for me as I expected this one to go somewhere special.

‘Where Earth Meets Sea’ begins with quaint ruminations and develops into some lovely lukewarm artful indie instrumental musing, but not demanding, just formally thoughtful.

‘Leaves Across The Road’ is more delicate, and effective, calming your senses as it drifts by with a hint of a choir materialising out of the quivering ether, and as these implied vocal sensations build the drums are buckling up for a severe ride, the guitar closing over proceedings like giant, suffocating wings. It’s heroically demented and impressive, although I feel they again lose the poise towards the end, leaving you reeling but not completely diverted.

‘Backward’ is a total waste of a lot of time, being an ambient sub-drone encounter in slow repetitive motion, so you can ignore that one once you’ve encountered it the once and concentrate instead on the rest of an album that is a breathtaking experience at times, and always a pleasure to experience.

A strange pleasure.

Più di vent'anni fa Sam Rosenthal chiariva in alcune compilation della Projekt quali fossero i suoi gusti musicali andando a ripescare leggende della musica tedesca quali Popol Vuh e Tangerine Dream. Negli anni a seguire, l'accezione di dark della Projekt ha abbracciato mondi apparentemente lontani dalle frequentazioni del pubblico goth: dal dream-pop degli Area allo shoegaze dei Mira passando per il folk etereo dei Faith & Desease. Non stupisce quindi che Sam Rosenthal abbia voluto sul catalogo Projekt l'esordio degli Every Silver Lining Has A Cloud (già pubblicato privatamente l'anno scorso), un disco che insegue le aurore boreali dei Sigur Rós intrappolate all'interno di notturne nuvole tempestose.

L'intro, "Against All Odds", è una nenia puntellata da un pianoforte decadente che serve a introdurre le atmosfere sospese di "Every Silver Lining Has A Cloud", omonimo album di debutto di un duo francese formato da Guillame Pintout (chitarre) e Cyrille Holodiuk (batteria) - nessuna partentela con il progetto con lo stesso nome prodotto da Bill Laswell quasi vent'anni fa. Ad aiutarli sulle dieci tracce del disco ci sono solamente Haluka Chimoto al violoncello e Damien Ossart al basso.

Il suono di una bicicletta sotto una cascata di loop mandati al contrario - i primi istanti di "A Stolen Life" - cortocircuita Yann Tiersen, Múm e Sigur Rós in una ballata ultra-romantica che esplode sopra lingue di chitarra e violoncello bollenti come lava. Stessa miscela sulla più lunga ed epica "The Air Is On Fire".

Al pari degli Hammock i due Every Silver Lining Has A Cloud adattano formule e trucchi del miglior post-rock illuminato dal passaggio della meteora dei Godspeed You Black Emperor alla sensibilità dream-wave. Da questa attitudine nascono passaggi meravigliosi come l'inaspettata sospensione del crescendo straziante su "Motionless", o l'uncino melodico durante la lenta litania su "The Sun Is Already Gone". Sensibilità pop che si materializza su "Such a Waste", puro nettare di sognante shoegaze, con tanto di riff a impreziosirne il finale.

Dopo tanto romanticismo la chitarra alla Mogwai che introduce il primo minuto di "The Leaden Sky" sembra quasi un risveglio. Intensità che torna più avanti durante la lunghissima "Leaves Across The Roads". Prima del languido e interminabile finale di "Backward". -Roberto Mandolini

Al di la delle nuvole e oltre
Chiudere gli occhi e immaginarsi su an aliante mentre plana in un pomeriggio estivo con poches nuvole dorate e il sole che le attraversa; altrimenti pensarci su una spiaggia bianca con la risacca delle onde a fare da controcanto al nostro respiro...Poetici, evocativi di paesaggi senza tempo e di tempi infiniti, i brani del l'omonimo album di Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud, quartetto parigino all'escordio, sono una boccata di aria pura e ci portano verso l'Altrove. E allora, ecco la musicalita dei campanelli in 'A Stolen Life' o l'uso pulito e preciso di tappeti sonori dove la voce della chitarra di Guillaume Pintout si sposa perfettamente con le percussioni di Cyrille Holodiuk ('The Leaden Sky'), mentre la Holodiuk presta anche la sua voce in un brano recitato del poeta americano Ashley Rugge, in 'Where Earth Meets Sky'. Sicuramente eredi di Sigur Ros, ma anche, in parte, dei Cocteau Twins, i francesi hanno creato un album sloare e gradevole gia al primo ascolto. -Cristina Pioltelli

This French band may have one of the longer band names in recent memory. Let us gloss over this even though through the ever accurate Wikipedia it may refer to a Julian Schnabel record. This band focuses on a slight version of the general post rock template. While most bands tend to forgo vocals and play the line by making the soft parts crescendo in loud near metallic waves.

The band open with a simple vocal line a light glockenspiel leading into lightly distorted guitars. The guitars take the lead allowing for some simple cymbal work. All of these things play on the idea of being quiet rather than depending on a overly loud crescendo to make the song move forward. This is a rather smart move that tends to repeat quite a bit throughout the record. This makes for each loud part to feel that much louder and let the vocals (yeah they have those) to breathe within the songs.

Overall the songs feel calm and rather simple. Which is another nice touch since most bands of this style can border on ridiculous by depending more on their technical chops rather than building songwriting chops instead. The overall calm mood helps the slightest guitar crunch feel positively mammoth.

The recording is very clean and clear which is very good for this particular record. The only complaint is the general feeling that some of the secondary percussive instruments (i.e. not drums) would be turned up so as to have a stronger overall effect rather than solely be lilting pieces of the bigger picture. The vocals are the other downside in the mix as at some points they could have been turned up so as to take the lead rather than only be used as a seemingly auxiliary instrument. What the listener receives in the end is a strong record by a band building its sound and band dynamic overall. -Jon E.

There are much easier band names to keep in mind then Every Silver Lining Has A Cloud. We here welcome the debut album of a Parisian duo reinforced by a talented cellist.

It’s not that easy to define the music of the project. It sounds somewhere in between new-wave and soundtrack music. The least I can say is that this band doesn’t sound that typical at all. The compositions are rather sweet and recovered with a melancholic, wafting touch. Acoustic guitar and cello parts are merging together in a beautiful expression of melancholia. One of the most brilliant songs in the line is “The Air Is On Fire”. It’s a well-crafted piece full of melancholia and carried by a great tune. The progression of this song is remarkable and especially for the emerging guitar plays resulting in a total climax. “Motionless” coming up goes on a similar line. Both pieces are instrumental cuts, which could perfectly be used as soundtrack music. Two more noticeable instrumentals are “The Sun Is Already Gone” and “The Leaden Sky”. All these tracks are revealing a talented project with an own approach in melancholic soundtrack music. Other songs are featuring vocal parts. Vocalist Guillaume Pintout is singing a rather evasive, wafting way, but he also experiences with a more whispered style of singing. On “Where Earth Meets Sea” the vocals are more spoken-like, which perfectly fist to the global atmosphere of this song.

I can’t imagine a more appropriated label then Projekt for this type of music. This debut CD is an accomplished work featuring several highlights. (ED:7/8)ED.

Ci sono tanti cieli intorno alla Terra; dipende dalla latitudine e dalla stagionalità, dalla pressione, dalle correnti ma non c’‘è mai una parte di cielo simile ad un’‘altra.

Il cielo nella cover di “Every Silver Lining Has A Cloud” è unico, non ne troverete altri uguali, forse simili ma non uguali perché in quel momento, in quel passaggio di nuvole è stata fissata l’‘immagine da una fotocamera. La solitudine a volte è anche il privilegio di sedersi e fissare il cielo, dimenticare ogni cosa e fissare il cielo, certi cieli anzi, quelli per cui nuvole soffici dipingono a bassa quota landscape su tele azzurre e certe città hanno quest’‘immagine come manifesto urbano: un cielo dipinto che si specchia su palazzi di vetro, nuvole forate da grattacieli irriverenti e noi seduti a fissarlo, fatelo ogni tanto vi aiuta ad alzare lo sguardo, cosa sempre più rara… Perché fissando il cielo, in solitudine, si fissa Dio, la persona più sola dell’‘Universo perché qualcuno ha deciso che non deve avere nessuno accanto se non se stesso o forse noi siamo soli perché Dio ci vuole simili a lui, una tremenda empatia mistico-filosofica senza soluzione di continuità che determina una maledizione assurda.

Guillaume Pintout e Cyrille Holodiuk sanno interpretare tutto ciò con la regola basilare del post-rock sinfonico, unire dolore e piacere, malinconia e ricordi trasformando questi binomi in musica; molto sopra di loro, in un’‘isola dell’‘Atlantico, un’‘isola vulcanica, la stessa sostanza formata dal dolore trasmesso con suono, ha creato il mito, la leggenda Sigur Ròs, forse il “prodotto” più innovato ed innovativo del rock del terzo millennio.

Every Silver Lining Has A Cloud è un progetto neofita non tanto dissimile e le concezioni di Jònsi, le sue lezioni sonore, trovano in quest’‘album eponimo la dignità di un suono che segue quelle difficili orme impresse nel ghiaccio, nel cuore, nella mente.

“Against All Odds” è l’‘inizio di questo viaggio anche dentro di voi; pensando alle stelle islandesi la modalità richiama la parte finale di “Takk”, un carillon, o comunque piccoli suoni d’‘infanzia, su cui entrano chitarre prima arpeggiate affiancate dal violoncello di Hamuka Chimoto, poi distorte nella classica pioggia shoegaze ed il cielo non ha più nuvole.

Piccoli suoni d’‘infanzia, la purezza che incontra la corruzione delle chitarre, il looper determina cambi di ritmo e cavalcate e lo stesso vale per “The Air Is On Fire” o “Motionless”. Immaginate ora, per capire meglio il contesto sonoro, la base musicale di una finta quiete determinata dagli arpeggi, dal contesto strumentale a cui si aggiunge il basso meraviglioso di Damien Ossart quando improvviso come tra nuvole plumbee riesce un raggio di sole a forare la cappa temporalesca ed accecare, come acceca Dio, come acceca l’‘infanzia quando è serena con la sua irriverente felicità sfacciata, come acceca l’‘amore per qualunque cosa abbia valore.

Questo è il post-rock di “Every Silver Lining Has A Cloud” anche nelle quieti di “The Sun Is Already Gone”, gestita da un violoncello che ritrova il sapore delle corde udite grazie al Trio Amina (esattamente era Sólrún Sumarliðadóttir l’‘esecutrice N.d.A.), una tecnica nata nel ‘‘700 e resa attuale da tanti interpreti della sfera emotiva.

Poi “Leaves Across The Roads”…

L’‘immagine di foglie sulla strada di per se ha una carica emotiva allegorica, le foglie come anime al vento, in balia degli eventi, determinati dal distacco dall’‘albero (la protezione, la vita) ed ora in balia di troppe variabili per non evocare tragedie o rimescolamenti, o solamente una folata, destinale, un folletto d’‘aria che crea un piccolo vortice in cui perdersi. La track ha una carica altissima: prima lieve veloci plettrate poi la svolta shoegaze, la testa china, uno sguardo al looper e la fatalità delle plettrate diventa il destino, la chitarra è distorta ed ogni tocco si prolunga fino al… …cielo, ogni tocco di plettro sulle corde arriva al cielo ed i suoni compatti cantano la disperazione, per l’‘ennesima volta. Quale disperazione?

Quella di uomini che adulti guardano ancora una volta il cielo, ancora una volta le nuvole ma senza la magia dell’‘infanzia, senza la ricerca della forma similare: un fungo, un orso, un cavallo, quante volte da piccini, innocenti e puri, guardavamo le nuvole e sognavamo immagini…

La disperazione di uomini che guardando il cielo cercano un angelo che li tolga dalle sofferenze dell’‘essere, che dia loro risposte e l’‘angelo compare, non ha una lunga chioma, ha una chitarra ed un plettro, un pedale ed un album da suonare: “Every Silver Lining Has A Cloud”.

Sigur Ros, Flying Saucer Attack, Mira, Mogwai, and Labradford are cited in the press release as spiritual kin to Every Silver Lining Has A Cloud (the group itself cites Slint, Hood, Set Fire To Flames, Mono, and Explosions in the Sky, among others, as influences), but one the group often evokes—Godspeed You! Black Emperor—is conspicuously missing from that checklist. If Every Silver Lining Has A Cloud does seem to be channeling the spirit of the Montreal-based collective on its debut album, such a move isn't wholly unwelcome, given that Godspeed You! Black Emperor hasn't released new music for a good many years now (though rumour has it some may again appear at some future date), so one could make the strong argument that the French duo of Guillaume Pintout (guitar) and Cyrille Holodiuk (percussion) are filling a void some might desperately wish to see filled.

Certainly they've got a lot of the requisite moves associated with the Montreal troupe down pat, such as dramatic, oft-mournful builds and epic, guitar-heavy climaxes. In both groups' cases, the music alternates between episodes of delicate quietude and ferocious grandiosity, with glockenspiel sprinkles and strings gracing the former and crushing electric guitar playing leading the charge in the latter (e.g., “The Air is on Fire”). The presence of strings makes the connection even stronger, as cellist Haluka Chimoto, who's played with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Strasbourg and the Tokyo City Philharmonic, enhances the elegiac beauty of “The Sun Is Already Gone” with his emotive contributions, and the languorous slow-build of “Such A Waste” also benefits from his presence. Field recordings (children playing in “The Leaden Sky,” industrial street noises in “Leaves Across the Roads”) add to the music's cinematic character, as does the addition of American poet Ashley Rugge to two tracks. The opener “Against All Odds” finds her delivering a poetic voiceover against an elegiac backing of dusty piano and tremulous electric guitar, and she also does the same during “Where Earth Meets Sea,” with her voice heard amidst the creak of a docked boat and molten guitar shadings. “The Leaden Sky” segues between peaceful atmospheres and grungier episodes, with drums and guitar stoking a raw heat that's not unwelcome, given the degree of elegant control applied to the group's attack elsewhere, and in the grand tradition of post-rock, the album includes two long-form settings, both of which arrive at album's end. The advantage of such length is that it gives Every Silver Lining Has A Cloud a chance to let its music patiently develop and thus build more dramatically. As a result, the penultimate piece, “Leaves Across the Roads,” opens with a delicate guitar weave that eventually grows into a howling storm of hellacious intensity that would do Mono and Explosions in the Sky proud. -Ron Schepper