POST SCRIPTUM

As well as the reissue of Jean Pierre Louveton's third solo album, 'Cannibales', to celebrate its 20th anniversary, we also now have his twelfth. He has again been joined by ex-Nemo bandmate Jean Baptiste Itier on drums, but this time he only plays on the last four songs, with the first three instead featuring Florent Ville who also played on the last album, 'Sapiens Chapitre 3/3: Actum'. Elise Bourg guests on vocals on six of the songs, while pianist Stephane Vouillot is on three, with JPL of course providing everything else. It has been three years since his last new album, but during that period he released the wonderful triple CD compilation '1994-2024' as well as working on 'Cannibales' so he has been rather busy.

JPL is one of those musicians who define the Crossover sub-genre in that his style of progressive rock is always highly melodic with some commercial influences, but he also likes to use elements of symphonic while he is also never afraid to bring his guitar to the fore and can crunch it when the time is right. Here the backing vocals from Elise bring in a really nice touch, with the harmonies working very well indeed, and the voices are often to the fore (although as all the lyrics are in French, I tend to think of them as another instrument, being a typical Pom I am only fluent in English). I have never been a fan of fade outs, but for some reason it works well on "Jekyll" as it leads us into the unaccompanied guitar introduction of "(À l'évidence) Je me rends" which is stark and fascinating.

As with all of JPL's albums there is a lot going on, and while I enjoyed this the very first time I listened to it, it does take a while to uncover all the layers and get a full understanding of the breadth and depth of his music. JPL is a wonderfully consistent musician who continues to push French progressive rock forward, and if you like music which is easy to get inside the first time it is played then this is for you. Yet another delightful release from the French multi- instrumentalist.

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