5 out of 5

Label: Un Je-Ne-Sais-Quoi

Produced by: ?

Accompanying a darling lil’ book by Carmela Chergui and Timo Hateau, concerning a mustache-bearing squid, ‘Daniel dans la nuit’ finds Funken (Julien Sénélas) inspired to tinkle seven perfect, bite-sized compositions upon a ‘pocket piano’ – a miniature synth. While the creatures in ‘Daniel dans la nuit’ – a crab, an eel, a fish – are not miniature, nor is the the kind of paper cutout vibe of the art overly slight or anything, this is a good sonic match, with the piano offering a fair amount of range, and layered to suit the bubbling underwater setting. “Bite-sized” is also too restricting: this is a short listen overall, but the songs are fully composed, ranging from two to four minutes, and linked by a kind of whimsical – occasionally haunting – melody, which Funken molds into something more adventurous or jaunty or edgy as needed. Though songs are sans an exact structure, often following an arpeggio around and about, leading to another and another, the album is not, in itself, wandering: even not matched with the book, you get a sense of journey, with its opening and closing tracks linked such that it’s ideal for looping.

It’s fair to say that I might judge this differently without the accompaniment, but I think at worst I’d just be asking for more. I was expecting something rather twee, and though these songs might still qualify, there’s also a lot more emotional depth possible, with a lot of space created / allowed for within each two to four minute song, and cumulatively as well. But given that I can link it with the book, it’s relative brevity makes sense.