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Bruno Karnel — Villa Solitude
(Bandcamp Bitume Productions, 2025, DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2025-05-26

Villa Solitude Cover art

The instrumental overture “Leaving Diaspar” to Karnel’s latest release, Villa Solitude, most definitely captures a dark and moody feeling and sets the stage for a mixed set of vocal tunes, mostly sung in French — one number (“Candlelight City”) is sung in English, and another (“Lightnings”) is a mix of English and French — plus one short instrumental tune, a sort-of interlude titled “Tvé Město I.” For those who are familiar with Karnel’s earlier albums, Las Illusiones and Hic Sunt Dracones from 2021 and 2023 respectively, will have some idea of what to expect herein, although this latest effort seems to dwell in instrumental territory a bit more than those previous efforts. As before, Karnel plays a literal bandroom full of instruments: acoustic and electric guitars, mandolin, bass, keyboards, domra, saz, sampler, and of course vocals. Joining him throughout is drummer Basile Combes, who easily navigates all of the variations of Karnel’s compositions and arrangements. Also joining are a number of guests including singer Sonia (also credited with the cover photo), Matthieu Gajewski (bass on three tracks), Roman Starkman (piano on two tracks) as well as a number of others on vocals, piano, violin, and cello as the arrangements require. For most of this journey, the mood is dark and a bit pensive, drawing from post-rock, progressive rock, post punk, even psych and shoegaze, but there are plenty of upbeat moments, and some that outright rock. Karnel’s vocals are solid, serving the songs well, though I’m a bit unprepared to offer any comparisons with other singers. Every one of the eight pieces is sublimely crafted and arranged, alternating between melancholy and hope, dystopian futures, towns destroyed by wars; solitude and dark shadows seemingly lurk behind every note. Certainly those literate in the French language will recover more from it than just the dark moods and feelings that will emerge from the music alone. Be sure and give it a listen at the Bandcamp link below — most should find Villa Solitude both interesting and enjoyable.

Filed under: New releases, 2025 releases

Related artist(s): Bruno Karnel

More info
http://brunokarnel.bandcamp.com/album/villa-solitude

 

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