3 out of 5

Label: Paris Barclay

Produced by: ?

An impressive set of film compositions from De Roubaix, that definitely allows for a mix of experimental works and more typical French pop / jazz, while also showing off De Roubaix’s still unique way of embracing electronic instrumentation alongside orchestration… but it’s also a curiously sequenced set, erring more towards norms and lacking in clear standout moments. Not that film scores need singles, of course, but we did knock out some truly beautiful themes in volume 1; volume’s 2 themes are perhaps better backed with their accompanying scores – things are just a tad more subtle or linear here.

Part of this effect is simply due to song selection: I love that we do have such a wealth of De Roubaix’s works recorded, though it’s inevitable some odds and ends may not fit together. The sequencing m.o. here seemed to be to frontload with more laidback pop, which is expertly arranged and as catchy as ever, but again, I think a fuller effect may have been achieved with these songs in context (either alongside other songs from that score, or with the visual material); there’s maybe not as much standalone storytelling. Additionally, both sides have some songs that come across as medleys of sort, stopping and starting different sections, and it’s just hard to get a flow going like that.

On the B-side, things are a little more outre, alternating between pop and either electronic-forward or more experimentally composed pieces, but that alternation itself makes it uneven – volume 1’s method of moreso grouping songs by style was perhaps the better approach.

The rating is thus moreso done as a comparison: song by song, this is great material. Its presentation, though, doesn’t serve its originality necessarily, and makes it hard to appreciate the whole set, limiting us to that song-by-song pacing.