Artist: Day Before Us
Album: Tristitiam Et Metus Tradam Portare Ventis
Label: Conjvre the Circle
Release date: September 2024
One of the things I find the most exciting about music in general, but dark ambient in particular, is discovering an artist with a sizeable discography that I was somehow unaware of up to that moment. Such is the case with Philippe Blache, the founding - and currently sole - member of the France-based project Day Before Us (what a wonderfully evocative name, by the way!). While Philippe has been active since 2011 and has more than a dozen releases on multiple labels under his belt, I only got wind of his work recently, with the release of his latest album Tristitiam Et Metus Tradam Portare Ventis, which translates from Latin roughly as "I will leave sadness and fear for the winds to carry".
A more careful reading of the title and the tracklist reveals what to expect in terms of mood on this album - this is not only an emotional, melancholic sonic journey, but one that feels distinctly personal; it's no coincidence that the artist behind the project decided to feature his real name on the cover art this time around. The music is not easy to define genre-wise, as it combines traditional dark ambient with piano- and organ-like passages, neoclassical elements, narrated sections and more. In fact, it's the aforementioned mood that serves as connective tissue here, uniting the otherwise somewhat disparate elements into a cohesive whole. Over repeated listens, I got a distinct impression that the flow of the album reminds me of the progression of a person's solitary night - it opens with a distorted piano in the foreground, reminiscent of a rainy evening passed in self-reflection, but soon starts to intermingle with somewhat industrial soundscapes, narrating an inner turmoil. As the album progresses into its second half, the atmosphere simultaneously becomes stiller and darker, and it's never quite certain whether we are slipping into a dream or a nightmare. The lofty synths of the last track ultimately carry the listener to the album's peaceful conclusion, but whether that peace is brought by dawn or death is impossible to say with certainty.
Ultimately, Tristitiam... does a wonderful job of delivering a melancholy-tinged, bittersweet piece of music without ever feeling either too oppressive or too depressive. It doesn't break much new ground musically, but despite that, Philippe's compositions manage the rare feat of depicting a variety of emotional states while somehow still being easy to listen to, understand and connect with. This is clearly the work of a mature artist who has the courage to invite listeners into his inner world, and the result is mutually rewarding.
Rating: 8/10
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