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Reviews

AQ&F — 2nd Life
(Bandcamp no#, 2023, DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2023-12-27

2nd Life Cover art

Starting in 2012, French guitarist and composer Arnaud Quevedo has been working with a changing group of musicians to bring his music to life. 2nd Life is the third full-length release, and here the artist is billed as AQ&F — Arnaud Quevedo and Friends. This time out, the Friends consist of Anthony Raynal (drums), Noé Russeil (bass, backing vocals), Marin Michelat (keyboards), Eva Tribolles (double bass, backing vocals), Lucille Mille (flute), Julien Gomila (saxophones), and Eloïse Baleynaud (lead vocals). With so many different instruments available, Quevedo’s music takes on an expansive sound exemplifying modern chamber rock, and I’m reminded at times of Taal’s great Skymind album from 2003, though 2nd Life has touches of jazz in the melodies and arrangements, and especially in Baleynaud’s singing. The album is built around the four-part title suite (“Awakening,” “Journey,” “Inner Demons,” and “Hindsight’s” — yes, they use an apostrophe), which is interspersed with standalone tunes, three of which (“Any,” “Yuki,” and “Ekinox”) are new arrangements of pieces that appeared on Quevedo’s 2012 debut EP with different personnel; the remaining piece is “No Soy Breton,” which is new on this album as far as I can tell. Quevedo’s guitar parts sometimes stray into heavy territory, but that’s always tempered by the clean sounds of the woodwinds and keyboards. Russeil is a dextrous and sometimes funky bassist who works superbly with Raynal to keep the energy level high. Tribolles often bows her upright bass, filling a melodic role that might normally be handled by a cello — at other times, it’s harder to make out what she’s doing in relation to Russeil. Flute and saxophone can be tricky to combine effectively due to the difference in timbres, but these arrangements handle the task admirably. “Yuki” is a highlight, and it’s interesting to compare with the earlier version (availble on Bandcamp): it sacrifices some of the rock energy and directness for more sophistication and a wider range of tone colors. Both versions are good, and have their own validity. On the whole, 2nd Life is a very enjoyable album, and a great entry into the field of modern progressive rock with extended instrumentation.

Filed under: New releases, 2023 releases

Related artist(s): Arnaud Quevedo and Friends (AQ&F)

More info
http://arnaudquevedo.bandcamp.com/album/2nd-life

 

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