Klone are a well regarded French band whose latest release, Meanwhile, is their eighth studio effort, and their second on label Kscope (although the label also released live effort Alive in 2021).
Before we get to the band and the music, a word about the stunning artwork for the LP created by digital artist Umut Recber – a wonderful creation bringing a stormy sky to life with a nightmarish reality. You can see some of his art at https://www.instagram.com/h0pe_art/
Meanwhile was my introduction to this band following a recommendation from a friend. Readers can listen to and purchase the album on the Kscope Bandcamp page at https://kscopemusic.bandcamp.com/album/meanwhile This page details the fact that this is a concept album chronicling the best and worst aspects of humanity with events taking place at the same time but in different places and choices which are made against our will that can change the course of our common history. Fascinating stuff and very much in line with many of the musings I have daily – life, the universe, and everything etc. and especially how other people’s actions impact upon us, both inadvertently, so something innocent said in the pub which changes the direction of your life, or quite deliberately, and a very good recent example is the leaking of that prize narcissist Matt Hancock’s WhatsApp messages during the pandemic which very much deliberately changed many lives, and most of them not for the better.
Within Reach starts us off with some deep and heavy riffs. Yann Ligner’s vocals are distinctive and rich, and the whole piece has a very strong sense of melody within the riffs. Atmospheric is a very good descriptor of the guitars provided by Guillaume Bernard against the general noise, because it is very different from common or garden rhythm guitars. Hugues Andriot on bass guitar and Laurent Thomas on drums form a very solid rhythm section, with Matthieu Metzger on keyboards & sax and Michael Moreau on guitars completing the line-up.
Blink of an Eye opens with some impressively eclectic noises before Ligner provides us with some thoughtful vocals, the words talking about remembering a place and a night, but in the blink of an eye your life can change. Fascinating, and musically very good, with some throbbing riffs which never spoil the reflective mood, even when the track expands impressively with just over a minute out. This is a fantastic piece of music, embedded below. Enjoy.
Below is the official video for the next track, Bystander. There is a huge amount packed in here, and visually and musically, this piece reminds one of Radiohead circa The Bends, and I mean that in an intelligent as opposed to a derivative manner. Three minutes in, that explosion of sound and mood is apocalyptic, deeply impressive. The lyrics are very good, and tell me of the impossibility of running away from the certainty of time and events; no matter how influential certain figures can be, they can also quickly be forgotten. One hell of a piece of music.
Scarcity follows and the start brings us down a tad following the intensity of what preceded it. It is a melodic piece, if a little monotoned.
Elusive follows. The jazzy sax introducing the track, and returning throughout, is delightful before the expansive noise the band so obviously do so well returns. The bassline on this track is especially impressive. The lyrical strange experience is repeated musically in a very good piece, very heavy in parts, and never anything less than fascinating.
Apnea is up next. The dictionary definition is breathless, and there is that characteristic for the first half of the track before a short introspective passage takes precedence, following which the chugging riffs take command leading into a final minute which is vocally and musically extremely uplifting, charging us to carry on, and you do so with the band willingly.
The Unknown. By definition, something we struggle to understand, and there is a mystery in the crunching riffs which introduce the track, and most definitely a raging against what we cannot quantify or reason with, the riffs over the deep bass, drum, and effects undercurrents putting this across perfectly. Post rock anger at its best, the denouement is chaotic and brilliant.
Night and Day follows. The calm of night at the beginning, featuring some wonderful drum patterns, is a welcome contrast to the brilliant chaos which closed the previous track. The lyrics talk about being by your side night and day, and are anthemic in execution following an inspirational human, or could that be a despot? Both can, of course, be the case when discussing leaders. Almost imperceptibly, the volume and intensity are cranked up as the track proceeds, certainly when we are urged to carry on the fight and stay with the author. The last few seconds allow a deeply intense experience to wash away.
The penultimate track is Disobedience, something your author (very proudly) has been accused of many times in a long public service career. May we always challenge imbecilic authority. In fact, lyrically and musically, with its strong chords banging into the ear led by a thumping underscore, this track calls on the best of humanity that it is time to disobey, and there are some incredible riffs calling us to this noble act, and rising above these are some wonderful sounds produced by Metzger, with Bernard excelling with the rising guitar. The track ends with the collective producing a thrilling crash.
The album closes with the title track, the longest at just short of seven minutes. The darkness stirs into light and off we go, the music at this point expanding from the more subdued opening passage, and even when things settle down again, the intensity is up a notch. It is, therefore, a surprise when just short of halfway through, we get some classic prog noodling and time signature changes. Thomas on his drums definitely marshals his inner Mason, and very impressive it is too, before the band delight with a sound unlike anything else on the album, no less intensive, but definitely different and very clever. The pounding riffs reassert themselves, as if meeting the challenge of a better life as referred to by the lyrics, but when the music moves towards its close with some swirling keys overlaying the riffs beneath, the sense of chaos, and perhaps the promise of better lives being somehow unfulfilled, is palpable.
Meanwhile is a very good album, which rarely loses the listener’s attention, the mark of a good band, and I will definitely be exploring their back catalogue, which extends an impressive twenty years now. Recommended for all those who enjoy the heavier, post rock, end of the progressive spectrum.