oddleaf - where ideal and denial collide - 2024
“... the new sound of french progressive rock ...”
intro
Oddleaf, a new band from France, was founded in 2020 by composer/keyboardist Carina Taurer and flautist Mathieu Rossi. Originally from the world of Early and Medieval Music, they decided to start a Progressive Rock Project together. In the course of 2021, Clément Curaudeau (drums), Olivier Orlando (bass, guitar) and Oliver Marcaud (lead vocals) joined them. However, the latter left the band at the end of 2023 and was replaced by vocalist Adeline Gurtner. After making several demos, the band successfully gained live experience as support for acts such as Franck Carducci, Lazuli and Gabriel Keller. On October 11th, their debut album 'Where Ideal and Denial Collide' will be released. The mastering of the album was done by a musician well-known to us prog fans. None other than Jacob Holm-Lupo (White Willow, The Opium Cartel) is responsible for mastering the album. The six compositions on this debut album are by keyboardist Carina Tauer, who conjures enchanting sounds from her vintage keyboards (Mellotron, Hammond Organ).
line-up
Adeline Gurtner - lead vocals; Carina Taurer - composition, keyboards, backing vocals; Clément Curaudeau - drums; Mathieu Rossi - electronic flute, flute, backing vocals; Olivier Orlando - bass, guitar, backing vocals
review
The debut album 'Where Ideal and Denial Collide' is the result of four years of hard work. All six compositions are by composer / keyboardist Carina Taurer, who treats us to the sounds of vintage keyboards (Melotron, Hammond organ). Add to that the electronic and acoustic flutes of co-founder Mathieu Rossi, four-part vocal harmonies, a fine rhythm section and the beautiful voice of singer Adeline Gurtner, and you have the ideal mix for an album with intriguing music.
The album opens with the atmospheric 'The Eternal Tree' (2:07), a short instrumental track that can be seen as a kind of transition to the new progressive rock sound of Oddleaf. In a fairytale atmosphere you can hear, besides piano, synth and Mellotron choirs, also the influences of where Carina Taurer and Matthieu Rossi come from, the classical world of Early and Medieval music. This seamlessly transitions into the first long song of the album, 'Life" (11:32) where you are immediately introduced to the four-part vocal harmonies. Singer Adeline Gurtner also immediately shows her calling cards here. Her beautiful voice can sound both delicate and powerful. But what is most striking is that as the composition progresses, the tempo increases, and the first climax is worked towards, the music is quite keyboard dominated by those wonderful vintage synth and organ parts. This wonderful and somewhat bombastic part is then followed by an atmospheric part with delicate singing and beautiful flute melodies. The acoustic flutes and the fairytale atmosphere made me think of the music of the Italian band Eris Pluvia, which also often has influences from classical music. When the vocals are added, a kind of climax is slowly worked towards with a cool synth part. This beautiful and very varied song ends again with the delicate sound of the piano and flute. Before we listen to the second long song of this album (there are three songs of over 10 minutes on it) we are first presented with the song 'Ethereal Melodies' (7:55). The slow opening is atmospheric and fairy-like with beautiful flute melodies and delicately sung vocals. The song lives up to its name, you can enjoy beautiful melodies and vocal harmonies. With beautiful synth and electric guitar parts this atmospheric song comes to an end.
The second long track on this album is titled 'Back In Time' (14:25). The first part is very atmospheric with Melotron sounds, but the beautiful flute work of Mathieu Rossi steals the show for me. The second part is more tempo with wonderful flute and Hammond organ solos. The music now has something of the music of the Swedish band Agusa. That is of course due to the combination of flute and Hammond organ. There is a lot of variation in this track, the melodic parts with vocals are alternated with more uptempo instrumental parts with beautiful keyboard work that then change into atmospheric and fairytale atmospheres with flute and delicate vocals. The track ends with a more hectic part with freaky flute and Hammond organ parts. The last and third long track of this album is preceded by the short intro 'Prelude' (1:05), an atmospheric and ambient-like synth intro. The fully instrumental 'Coexistence Part 1' (11:21) opens uptempo with electric guitar and fat synth sounds and then takes on epic forms with delicious guitar and keyboard parts. After four wonderfully bombastic minutes, the tempo slows down and the atmosphere changes into a somewhat fairytale atmosphere with beautiful and delicate flute melodies. But after two minutes all inhibitions are released again and supported by a tight rhythm section, the music becomes wonderfully bombastic again. A treat for fans of keyboard-dominated progressive rock. Hectic parts are alternated with parts with more melody. Here composer Carina Taurer shows that she is also a very talented keyboard player. After all those beautiful varied songs, the band now goes full throttle and this track develops into one of the absolute highlights of this remarkable debut album.
conclusion
If this is (as announced) the new sound of French progressive rock, we progressive rock lovers are in for a treat. With 'Where Ideal and Denial Collide' the new Frence outfit Oddleaf has delivered a convincing and refreshing debut album. Keyboardist Carina Taurer who is also responsible for all the six compositions convinces with fine and varied keyboard playing. It has become a mature debut album with both folk and classical (Early and Medieval) music influenced fairytale atmospheres as well as keyboard dominated progressive rock with influences from the seventies. The latter is due to the choice of using vintage keyboard sounds. Listening to this fine album, the choice to combine analogue and vintage keyboard sounds with all kinds of flutes, appears to have been a golden choice. The beautiful flute playing, the female lead vocals and the expansive four-part vocal harmonies give a nice contrast between the intimate and the more epic (bombastic) sounds that you can find on this remarkable debut album. That's why this album is highly recommended by progVisions.