Alice
Thierry ZABOITZEFF’s fifth solo work, *Alice*, is also the third production from his ‘post-Artzoyd’ period, characterised by close collaboration with the Austrian choreographer Editta BRAUN. Like *Heartbeat* and *India*, *Alice* is a commissioned work, though this time it was created for a French production by Stéphane VÉRITÉ, the show *Alice, c’est merveilleux non ?*
The reference to Lewis CARROLL’s work will not have escaped anyone’s notice, but neither the show nor its soundtrack are, strictly speaking, an illustration of the original novel. (Mind you, neither is DISNEY’s ‘cartoon’ version!)
As the album is subtitled *Les Chants d’Alice et du vieux monde* (*The Songs of Alice and the Old World*), singing and spoken word feature prominently, alternating with instrumental pieces whose musical fabric is built on minimal melodic loops, ‘soft’ ethnic rhythms, plenty of piano and keyboard sounds, but little guitar or bass, a few wind instruments, and a scattering of subtle sound effects, sampled voices, laughter and tears – all evoking bittersweet atmospheres that are at best poetic, at worst soporific, with a hint of mothballs in places.
Without visual accompaniment, Alice’s music struggles to hold the listener’s attention over its length (nearly an hour, after all), which was not necessarily the case with ZABOITZEFF’s two previous soundtracks for stage productions. It is as though he has watered down the wine and salt of his ideas, so much so that the whole thing comes across as too tame, verging on lifeless. Whilst certain musical sequences still evoke ambiguous atmospheres, the songs in French – sung in a ‘normal’ voice – and the recitatives definitely weigh down the listening experience, particularly as the musical accompaniment is rather ‘light’, static, cold, and at times drags on (especially in the longest track!).
Admittedly, the show’s theme is a far cry from the atmospheres of impressionist horror cinema, for which Dr ZAB had once served as the sound designer. At least, one cannot say that ZABOITZEFF is repeating himself or that he has rested on his laurels as an ‘Artzoydian pioneer’. Here, he showcases other facets of his soundscape, but in a manner that is too one-sided and disconcerting. In fact, this CD falls short of *India* and *Heartbeat*.
We would have liked Alice’s daydreams to veer a little more towards a nightmare, just to redress the balance and make the time zone and artistic disconnect a little less jarring. The other side of the mirror isn’t quite what we expected…
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