ARIA PRIMITIVA – Work in Progress
(Booster / WTPL Music) 2018
Birthdays are usually an opportunity to catch up with family or old friends, but also to meet new people in unexpected ways. The second live performance of ART ZOYD’s retrospective work 44 1/2, in December 2016 at Le Phénix in Valenciennes, thus provided an opportunity for its long-standing former member Thierry ZABOITZEFF to get to know two young recruits from the ‘artzoydien’ laboratory, Nadia RATSIMANDRESY and Cécile THEVENOT, who handle keyboards and various samplers – and even the ondes Martenot in the case of the former – in short, the very best in instruments from a certain musical avant-garde. With his bass, electric cello, samples and voice like a ghoul from beyond the grave, ‘Dr ZAB’ represents the older generation, who still play on traditional instruments – albeit adapted to electric sounds and electronic textures – but whose approach is rather ‘old school’ compared to the modern working methods of the two keyboardists. Who would have thought that these personalities had anything to say to one another? Yet that was indeed the case, and so the idea for a new project in the form of a trio, ARIA PRIMITIVA, took root in Thierry ZABOITZEFF’s mind.
Barely a year after the group’s formation, things have moved quickly for ARIA PRIMITIVA, with an album already in the pipeline; this EP serves as their calling card, not to say their wedding invitation. Its release is testament to the creative frenzy and the flow of inspiration of Thierry ZABOITZEFF, the composer behind the three tracks featured on this EP, humbly titled *Work in Progress*, which implies that the compositions in question are set to evolve further before they are recorded on the actual album itself. But for ‘working versions’, they are already very presentable, eminently listenable and, above all, thoroughly enjoyable! And what strikes the listener is the almost umbilical link they maintain with the Artzoydian universe of the 1980s and 90s, yet without a trace of nostalgia in their treatment.
Listening to the opening track, ‘Maidaykali’, we find that same aspiration to blend musical elements from distinct worlds into a single melting pot, to interweave ambient textures, metal riffs, industrial programming, tribal rhythms, sepulchral vocals and other ‘extraterrestrial’ elements to create a dense and feverish hybrid that commands the listener’s attention. Yes, there’s a touch of ART ZOYD in there, but not in a derivative way; rather, from an evolutionary perspective, confirmed by the choice of a fresh, renewed and remodelled sound, which simultaneously evokes certain moments of glory whilst displaying a previously unseen energy.
‘Aria Primitiva’, the eponymous track, drives the point home.
This multi-layered piece unfurls its structural tentacles over nearly 14 minutes, taking countless labyrinthine detours whilst playing on the repetition of a melodic motif that could pass for a work song in the world of the Munchkinds or the Smurfs, but which soon reveals darker temptations, more abstract sensations, sonic mirages (strings, an accordion, choirs appearing out of nowhere…) and hyperbolic doubts capable of plunging the listener into a void or a maelstrom, before cheerfully resuming its course.
Finally, the third track proves that, when we spoke of an umbilical cord, we were not exaggerating, as this is a new version of ‘Sleep No More’ (the original version of which closed the CD *Nosferatu*), more stripped-back but also duly revamped, with ZABOITZEFF more possessed than ever on ‘pythian’ vocals. This reworking serves a dual purpose: it evokes a connection to a certain past whilst using it as a milestone to chart a new course. ARIA PRIMITIVA does not create by starting from scratch, but cultivates a vast field by combining old and new methods of composition and structure.
This ‘Work in Progress’ carves out a powerful, visceral substance, setting it against a backdrop of diverse atmospheres, striking contrasts, tortuous structures and incandescent bursts of energy. To capture ARIA PRIMITIVA’s ‘cry’, the listener is warned that they will need to pay close attention. And as they listen, they too may find themselves asking: why are we sleeping?
It’s certainly what you’d call a ‘starter’ that’s fired up to the max!
Stéphane Fougère
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