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Bertrand Loreau — Echo of a Distant Time
(Spheric Music SMCD 6309, 2024, CD)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2024-08-14

Echo of a Distant Time Cover art

With over two dozen albums released since he launched his career in the early 90s, both as a solo artist and in collaboration with others, Bertrand Loreau should need no introduction to fans of Berlin School electronic music, or French electronic music in general, and of the several that I’ve heard, Echo of a Distant Time stands as one of his finest efforts to date. Consisting of three side-long epics and three shorter pieces that fill out a fourth album side, this immersive masterwork delivers a majestically beautiful sound space for any listener inclined to be wooed by the likes of the late Klaus Schulze, classic Tangerine Dream, Jean Michel Jarre, or the late American synthesist Michael Garrison, to name but a few. Loreau creates the works at hand entirely solo with no other musician involvement other than those who served as inspiration, using a battery of synthesizers and sequencers he has amassed over the last 30 years. The opening epic “In the Dark” is built on a powerful pulsating rhythm with strong walls of textural magic, beautiful melodies delivered via piano patch, and assorted odd and curious sounds to round things out nicely; It’s in a constant state of evelution, so the 22 minute duration doesn’t seem all that long when you finally arrive at the conclusion of the piece. At fifteen minutes, the sprawling “Velvet Moon” eases into the glorious darkness, delivering beautiful melodies with a shimmering flute patch, and the gentle repetitive sequences that underscore the piece wash in some more curious sonic artifacts that one could almost swear were based on human voices, with a more traditional synth sounds taking over the melodic aspects as the piece proceeds. The last of the side-long epics is “Sound of Sand,” a slowly evolving mystical piece filled with engaging melodies and powerful ever-changing textures that stir the soul as they develop and change. “Up at Dawn” is one of the shorter pieces at six minutes and change, and has a similar feel to the opener, though with a slower guiding pulse. The synthesized voices return at the beginning of “Endless Run,” followed by a patchwork of busy sequences and expansive melodic runs. Loreau pulls out all the stops on this 73-minute limited edition CD; hopefully it will find its way to a downloadable format soon.

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases

Related artist(s): Bertrand Loreau

More info
http://www.sphericmusic-shop.de/neue/echo-of-a-distant-time.htm

 

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