Orwell
Album: Exposition Universelle
Label: Folkwit
Tracks: 13
Website: http://www.orwellmusic.com

This album is the second from French outfit Orwell to be released on Folkwit, but their fifth in total. Orwell is based round vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Jerome Didelot, with a cast of thousands providing textures including vibraphone, cello, flute, mellotron, tuba and banjo!

The music is very difficult to classify, ranging from the Germanic electro-pop of the title track, through the wistful "Je Ne Sais Pas Mourir", and the Pet Shop Boysish "Tous Les Avenirs". Perhaps it's the control exerted by a central write-performer-producer, but I was frequently reminded of a Gallic Todd Rundgren in his more commercial vein (and since that's the vein of his I prefer, that is a recommendation!). There is some savage electric guitar scattered throughout as well, which is never a bad thing in a pop context.

"Pavillon Solitaire" could have emanated from another era, piano, harp and strings producing a suitably elegiac effect, whereas the following "Courbes" reverts to that 70s pop feel with a severely compressed vocal over a host of instruments including that banjo. More guitar, banjo and synthesiser in the following gentle "Lautre Monde Vert", playful vibes prefacing "A Ce Jour" and the closing "Tu Brilles" sounds very much like an updated 10cc with layered vocals, clipped electric guitar and electronic percussion.

Didelot has produced a labour of love which brings together 16 different players, but sounds like it could only have emanated from one central coordinating mind. Cool, crafted pop, which will no doubt go unnoticed in the Anglophonic world, but it deserves a much wider hearing.

Harry Thomson