Angil and the Hiddentracks
Oulipo Souliva (Chemikal Underground)
Throughout Oulipo Souliva, Angil – aka multi-instrumentalist Mickael Mottet – tells his listeners “do not think”.
But he doesn’t seem able to take his own advice. This is an album into which a great deal of thought has gone.
For one, Mottet has written no songs in “e” – and has even gone so far as to expunge the letter from both his lyrics and from his band’s name (which appears as Hidd*ntracks). The result is a glorious combination between the meticulous planning that’s gone into the music, and the relatively carefree performance from Mottet’s collective.
The mix of styles is a delight – including, amongst others, loungey tunes, jazzy interludes, post-rock style crescendos and dark brooding piano (the intro to ‘Took No Drugs’ sounds almost like a bar song in a Wild West movie) and a very sweary finish on ‘My Final List’. Like ‘Do Not Think’, ‘You Most’ is split into three parts, which get longer throughout the album, building up musicians and layers of
melody at each stage – until it’s a well-constructed mess of noise.
In the song’s final instalment, Mottet sings “If you avoid risk, you’ll just pass away”. It’s this philosophy which makes Oulipo Souliva an interesting, surprising and thoroughly enjoyable listen.
Elaine Liddle
