Suun
by NLC
With a continuous stream of releases on attenuation circuit over the last few years, the French duo NLC, Julien ASH and Aloïs L., have built a veritable catalogue of goth pop within the more experimental roster of attenuation circuit – one that translates the spirit of experimentation and collaboration into the vocabulary of a sophisticated 'art pop' music whose creative eclecticism manages to integrate metal guitar riffs just as well as hip-hop beats.
“Suun” is a concept album, but the concept is mainly hinted at in titles and sparse lyrics, it is not being enforced on the listener. Instead, listeners are given the freedom of creating their own interior film based on the music. For the non-instrumental tracks, the lyrics were written by the the vocalists who also perform them, Jordane Prestrot and Liesbeth Houdijk, along with Pierre-Yves Lebeau. Other collaborators from NLC's network will be familiar to listeners who have heard NLC's previous releases on attenuation circuit. In addition to (bass) guitarist Wolf City and producer Grosso Gadgetto, both of which were featured on collaborative albums with NLC in the past, François Porte plays the flute on some tracks, supplementing a sound colour that is almost as characteristic of NLC's recent sound as Aloïs L.'s signature violin playing.
File under: ambient, post-rock, psychedelic
ACU 1085
factory-produced CDr in Digisleeve
Released in 2025
limited to 100 copies
price: 10.00 EUR (excl. postage)
NLC were :
Julien ASH : music ,recording, mixing, synths, piano (all tracks)
Jordane Prestrot : synths (9), lyrics, lead and back vocals (2, 9, 10,11)
Grosso Gadgetto : music & synths (2,7,11), mix (11)
Aloïs L. : music, synths and violins (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9), mix (2,9), digital mastering (all tracks)
Wolf City : bass guitar (3), electric guitar (5,9)
Christophe Bailleau : synths (6)
Pierre-Yves Lebeau : acoustic guitar (6), lyrics (1,7)
Liesbeth Houdijk : lyrics and vocals (1,7)
François Porte : transverse flute (4,6,10)
Recorded from August 2022 to October 2024 (various locations)
nouvelleslecturescosmopolites.bandcamp.com
Also available here: http://www.discogs.com/seller/dependenz?sort=price&sort_order=asc&q=attenuation+circuit&st
VITAL WEEKLY
There’s also a new album by Julien ASH and Aloïs L, collectively known as NLC, along with a rotating cast of members. Although active for many years, there has been an outburst of material recently, and I reviewed various of these releases. As I listen to this new one, I try to remember what I wrote before, rather than looking up and the word ‘soundtrack’ comes to mind. I must have used that one before, when describing NLC’s music. Then I thought, why is NLC bothering with small-scale releases on an independent label? Shouldn’t they be trying to score soundtracks for Hollywood blockbusters (hey, twice in one long review), and get the sort of recognition they deserve? The music is synthesiser, sequencer and sampler heavy, with Aloïs L adding violin in many pieces, but there are also people playing bass, guitar, flute, and vocals. I admit two things, quite readily: excellent music, executed with great care, played with great skills, fine, orchestral-based pop music, complex, filmic and all that. Secondly, this is not my kind of music, because it’s orchestral-based pop music, too smooth, too normal, or perhaps too much out of the reference field I choose to write about, or would privately listen to. Let that not stop you from investigating this, as I am sure it is music appealing to a broad audience. One that is much larger than the limited reach of Vital Weekly has.
https://www.vitalweekly.net/number-1483
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