Over to France, we have Homme who release their debut album, Ma vie en théorèmes (My Life in Theorems). The band is main songwriter, Chris Massol (vocals, bass, songwriter); Arthur Delevirg (guitar); JP Mendez (guitar); and Jacques Anoufa (drums).
This is a French language album exploring the mirror of doubts, vertigo, and hopes that run through humans, exploring the complexities of being, the blurred lines between ideals and disillusion (the latter very much to the fore in the news, both in this band’s homeland and here in the UK).
The album is available via Bandcamp at https://homme-musique.bandcamp.com/album/ma-vie-en-th-or-mes
Let’s provide you all with my sense and impressions of the ten pieces of music here.
Abus de pouvoir is Abuse of Power, very clearly in my mind today having read tales of our MPs profiting from £300k worth of hospitality freebies and Trumpalot raking it in from deals made as President of our foremost democracy. It is a relatively short opener, released with the type of energy associated with Motorhead back in the day, the bass guitar of Massol carrying that spitting of fire with it, the twin guitars working well together, with a decent solo later, the drums keeping the time perfectly, a fine, angry beginning to proceedings.
Ma vie en théorèmes is the title track. A theorem is, of course, a statement in maths or physics, as in life, that has been proven or can be proven. We have a video of this, embedded below for you. It is very well produced, a story of the elites, the kings, influencing us, leading us. There is a nice post-rock vibe to this track, but tempered with a strong sense of melody, some of the guitar chords making the listener sit up and take notice in a track which is far less “in your face” than the opener, more thoughtful and rather sad at what is being fed to us, as we move to the close a dystopian psych soundbath and emotive guitar solo straight from the Gilmour playbook.
Toxic Girl is that type who smokes with her crew, her dog, dressed in her black leather, and he wants her! This is a rush of heavy boogie woogie and is a thrill from start to finish, hopelessly catchy, and huge fun.
Eclosion programmée (Scheduled Hatching – what a title!) follows and is lyrically dark, with the protagonist falling into a pool of blood, having to raise the courage to walk outside, and once there, not fitting into society at all. The bass thudding at the start with the deep breathing of a nightmare is evocative, the guitars then setting the scene for the introspective nature of the Massol vocals, the short chorus of Retourne, retourne-toi (turn around, turn around) insistently emotional, a guitar solo which has dexterity at its roots, the mood turning uglier as the self-realisation of standing out amongst the crowd asserts itself.
Idées noires (Dark Thoughts) has the thoughts exemplified by the delicate keys above the light guitar before the track bursts into life featuring a superb extended guitar solo, the sound crying from your speakers, an anthemic delight. I did play this, incidentally, on my radio show of 1st November.
Mon evidence (My Uniqueness) has the subject wanting to be ignited, to live life at full speed, and has a bouncy, bright start in anticipation of the event, this one about as close to commercial pop rock as this band get, and that is not a derogatory statement, but a reflection of their ability to incorporate such a pleasing range of styles and moods in their music. A track deserving of wider airplay, for sure.
Mon capitaine wants to travel around the world on a gleaming sailing ship, the eponymous leader and follower content in their adventure. It is another brighter track, fairly smiling at you as it progresses, but simplistic it is not, some complex notes in the mix here, all led by a strong guitar riff.
Le Tunnel takes a darker turn lyrically, with being stuck in a seemingly eternal tunnel of life, only darkness around, with a plea to be freed back home. The guitar lead is haunting on this, the vocals beseeching, a pulsing classic rock song emerging from this, the lead solo as we enter the final minute taking me back nicely.
Pile ou face (Heads or Tails) is the penultimate piece. It discusses those we meet during life, the genuine friends who stay with you until the end, and the opportunists, only out to gain for themselves. The bass riff at the start with the playful effects is fun, and this morphs into a rock reggae delight, as funky as it comes, in another turn of events the listener is not exactly prepared for. It reminds me a bit of 10CC in their halcyon art rock days, albeit with heavier riffs accompanying it in parts.
Le grand voyage (The Great Journey) completes our Homme Journey, a return to a tortured youth, perhaps surrendering life itself, but in the fading time, keeping a special place in his heart for a loved one who understood. Musically, this is pure rock ‘n roll in a post punk sense, for those of a certain vintage such as I redolent of what you would have seen on Top of the Pops around 1979/80, but combined with more of that classic rock guitar lead before it settles down into something hauntingly beautiful, the guitar weeping its notes, the words spoken alongside choral voices before the spirit of the start reasserts itself with gusto.
Homme is a band I have really enjoyed getting to know these past couple of weeks, and Ma vie en théorèmes is an intelligent, perfectly performed and produced work of modern rock. Highly recommended as something a wee bit different for your Christmas music stocking.