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New Music Monday: Yann Tiersen

new music monday yann tiersen
Yann Tiersen Infinity

“A sunny, baroque pop track featuring Tiersen’s characteristic subjection of acoustic instruments such as bells and strings to digital processing, indicative of his approach to the whole album” – The Quietus on “A Midsummer Evening”

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“Orchestral pop that feels both capable of being stripped down to an acoustic format while being eerily bombasitc.” – Prefix Mag on “A Midsummer Evening”

“A Midsummer Evening,” dense with manipulated textures, strings and choral chanting, began, as the album did, as little more than noise from toys. The initial recordings took place in Iceland and are explained here by Tiersen: “The idea was to start with toy instruments as a reference to my early works, then manipulate the sounds electronically. Then I added a new layer of acoustic instrumentation, and repeated the same process. Finally I repeated the process once more with strings, so the whole album was a constant back and forth from acoustic to electronic to digital, and then back to analogue.”

This layering of textures formed thematic threads that bind the album: the stones, the minerals, their infinite nature… Language too is integral to this album. “Ar Maen Bihan”, a story written by Emilie Quinquis in the Breton language, was translated by Amiina to Icelandic (‘Steinn’). Elsewhere on the album Aidan Moffat (Arab Strap) and Ólavur Jákupsson (a member of Tiersen’s live band) both contributed tracks on the same theme – stones – Moffat’s in English and Jákupsson’s in Faroese.

∞ (Infinity) is the follow up to 2011’s Skyline (which was described by MOJO as “life affirming”, by Clash as a “…remarkable musical talent” and in Drowned In Sound’s 8* review as “euphoric”), and will be premiered at an exclusive live performance at the ICA, London, on May 14th- which sold out in less than 5 hours. The ICA is followed by a tour of North America in May and June, including dates in Mexico City, Toronto, New York City, Los Angeles, Montreal, and Chicago to name a few. ∞ (Infinity) was conceived in Iceland, where work began on the album, and in Ushant Island, Brittany. The album was produced by Yann Tiersen and mixed by Gareth Jones with Yann Tiersen and Daniel Miller.

Hailing from Brittany, Yann Tiersen is one of the most revered artists of his generation with a reputation first established by his studio albums (which included 1997’s Cascade Street 1998’s The Lighthouse and to 2005’s Les Retrouvailles). The early albums were combined and used for the Amelie soundtrack (2001), earning him global recognition. Recent albums on Mute, Dust Lane (2010) and Skyline (2011) have seen his prominence build, along with projects such as the recent live score to the Fantômas series which he curated at the Théâtre de Châtelet with guests Tim Hecker, James Blackshaw, Loney Dear and Amiina.

Order ∞ (Infinity) on iTunes or Amazon!

www.yanntiersen.com

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Depeche Mode songwriter Martin Gore's new solo album, MG, is scheduled to come out this Tuesday (April 28) on Mute Records. Though Depeche Mode released a new studio album in 2013, Delta Machine, MG marks the first time that Gore has used the MG moniker since VCMG's 2012 debut album, Ssss.

MG shares much more in common with VCMG, Gore's project with Vince Clarke. The sixteen-track electronic record is entirely instrumental. It would be easy to pigeonhole the album because of those sixteen wordless tracks, but MG defies that. Each song on the record is a completely different beast from the the other fifteen. "Europa Hymn," the first single, begins in a trancelike state but gradually builds over its three minute runtime. This comes in stark contrast to the album's eeriest track, the Angelo Badalamenti-like "Elk."

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New Music Monday: Our Favorite Songs from 2014
new music monday favorite tracks 2014 cold specks

New Music Monday is moving in a new direction. Today and next Monday we’ll be looking back through 2014 at some of our favorite tunes of the year, and the week after that, we will discuss the most anticipated records of 2015.

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New Music Monday: Nude Beach
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Nude Beach’s third album, 77, opens on a surprisingly introspective note considering that descriptions of the band often mention epic guitar riffs, catchy choruses, and comparisons to 70s power pop. Not that those descriptions are off the mark; opening track “Used To It” could be a long lost Big Star song from their Chris Bell era. Moreover, at sixty-eight minutes and with eighteen tracks the band has ample opportunity to showcase their versatility.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4QrgfEJO_c
Tracks like “I Can’t Keep the Tears From Falling” and “Can’t Get Enough” show off Nude Beach’s songwriting ingenuity with jangling guitars and hooks that get stuck in your head for days. Rolling Stone went so far as to compare "I Can't Keep the Tears From Falling" to the sound of “Tom Petty in a garage.” The rocking guitars draw listeners in, but the rest of the album keeps them there. The catchiest tracks feature clever lyrics and arrangements, and slower songs weave in and out of the heavier ones to provide a breather between those epic riffs mentioned above. “I Can’t Keep the Tears From Falling,” for example, finds itself bookended between two of the album’s most thoughtful songs, “For You” and “Geoffrey’s Tune.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhA6Zc0GpAc
77 sees Nude Beach reaching for bigger things than a fun summer jam—though the record provides plenty of those, too. The band’s lyrics are getting sharper, and the sound is expanding. (Did I mention that the album closes on a country-tinged note?) At first glance, sixty-eight minutes might seem too long for a power pop record, but Nude Beach provide much more than that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foYgfqbFxYo
77 is out now via Don Giovanni Records and available for purchase through Amazon, iTunes, and the label’s store. Read more about Nude Beach on Facebook or Don Giovanni Records.

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