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4Element — Double Life
(Bandcamp Mad Ducks Records, 2026, CD / DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2026-10-28

Double Life Cover art

4Element was originally a quartet that formed in 1999 and released two albums in the early 2000s, Living Spirit (2000) and Duplicity (2005), before members went their separate ways. What began as an idea to create a remixed best-of from the band’s releases quickly turned into discussions of re-recording their best material starting from the ground up, two dozen years on. Original multitrack recordings were presumed to be lost, but enough was recoverable, allowing the bandmates to return to the sessions with fresh ears and ideas regarding how they might be improved. Nine tracks were selected for Double Life, three from the debut and six from the second album sessions. The three longstanding members were Alban Theys (drums, percussion, programming), Cedric Theys (bass, Chapman Stick, programming, and some vocals), and Xavier Chasseuil (lead, rhythm, and acoustic guitars), with the participation of Philippe Künzle on lead guitar on the three early tracks, Esteban Tucci on drums on the three latest tracks, and Kevin Gautschi singing on several of the cuts. Markus Reuter is credited with editing and mix consultation. All taken, Double Life is a pretty wild ride, taking in elements of hard rock, funk, fusion, jazz, progressive rock, and much more, often quite surprising, with all of the pieces group written. Opening the set is the powerful pummeling titled “Fake Talk” where Gautschi’s vocals stand out among the powerful Crimson-like instrumentation, followed by “The Bridge,” an interesting blend of acoustic and electric guitars over the harder edge of the rhythm section, most notable the Chapman Stick. The instrumental “Ducks on the Wall” is a tasty example of some unusual ideas pressed into song form. Other standouts include the shimmery “Black Rose,” a piece that goes through a number of changes throughout its mere four minutes, the dark and blustery instrumental “Underground Waltz” with its odd time changes and unusual percussive attack, and the almost-coulda-been-a-radio-hit “Corvette Amazon” stands out as the most accessible song on the album. Incidentally, the original versions of both albums are still available on the Mad Ducks site as of this writing.

Filed under: New releases, 2026 releases

Related artist(s): Alban & Cédric Theys, 4Element

More info
http://madducksrecords.bandcamp.com/album/double-life

 

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