No Land
Author: Tim Cumming
View album and artist detailsAlbum and Artist Details
Artist/band: |
Olivier Mellano, Brendan Perry & Bagad’ Cesson |
Label: |
World Village |
Magazine Review Date: |
March/2018 |
Brendan Perry's voice is a deep, sonorous instrument that carries all before it: a strong tidal river without a shore. Perry is a crucial third of No Land's sound world; bassist and composer Olivier Mellano scored the project for Perry's distinctive voice and the massed ranks of Bagad de Cesson-Sevigne, a 30-strong ensemble of musicians playing bombards (Breton double-reed instrument), bagpipes and percussion, plus a 20-strong choir.
There is just one 38-minute song here, and its theme is a metaphysical, political and cultural take on the concept of no borders. It's about removing frontiers rather than extending them or closing them, and musically, the mesmerism of the massed bombards over the darker currents of the pipes, and the slow mercurial course of Perry's voice, unites Celtic and Breton music with Moroccan and contemporary art music. There are striking instrumental passages, the massed percussion rising and falling under the martial music of pipe and bombard. Perry's voice often almost cantor-like as he sings lyrics such as: ‘We are the guards of open gates & The keepers of nothing.’ It's striking and unique, and promises great impact on stage.
There is just one 38-minute song here, and its theme is a metaphysical, political and cultural take on the concept of no borders. It's about removing frontiers rather than extending them or closing them, and musically, the mesmerism of the massed bombards over the darker currents of the pipes, and the slow mercurial course of Perry's voice, unites Celtic and Breton music with Moroccan and contemporary art music. There are striking instrumental passages, the massed percussion rising and falling under the martial music of pipe and bombard. Perry's voice often almost cantor-like as he sings lyrics such as: ‘We are the guards of open gates & The keepers of nothing.’ It's striking and unique, and promises great impact on stage.
