2 out of 5

Label: Murailles Music

Produced by: Etienne Foyer (mastered by)

The copy for this album on bandcamp is… unclear. The intention is unclear. The words are there – descriptions of the sound; some kind of mission statement – but what we’re actually supposed to glean from this is lost, as though the context is two steps removed; it’s someone talking about talking about an album, beclouded further by letting thoughts stray mid-stream.

If anything, that’s a good capture of the sound of Évohé B​è​gue, which, after several spins, I can’t quite determine the “feel” of.

Crossing into a kind of electro improv, the majority of tracks on Évohé consist of pitter-patter drums, a layer of feedback / distortion, chanting / singing – somewhat of a religious, prayerful patter – and a squiggly synth, doing something separate from the squiggles of the percussive pitter-patter, and all of these elements then levered up or down in terms of intensity, and their presence in the mix. Some tracks are thus very abstract and bare; some are more direct and pummeling.

As a longform bit of drone / noise / experimentalism, it’s listenable, and not unpleasant or without presence. However, again, I don’t quite get a sense of intent. Sometimes I take issue with “art for art’s sake” music – since it doesn’t seem like the music is the point at all, so why am I listening – but this isn’t that. There’s passion, and the sounds do align for something rather compelling at points. But just as the vocals are often indiscernible ‘neath buzzy ambience, or simply due to the fractured way they’re sung / shouted, the music doesn’t seem like it actually has much to say, and that lacking gives the experiment a lack of cohesion, no matter how many times I spin it up.