Yann Tiersen

Dust Lane

Yann Tiersen's score for Jean-Pierre Jeunet's 2000 French comedy, Amelie, remains, many insist, the great film score of its time. Rather than relying on classical composition (as do most big budget Hollywood films) or the quirky minimalism of most American indies, Tiersen's name-making score established the composer's name by utilizing, for example, accordions and harpsichords in the place of cellos and violins. Big, fancy, details productions that sounded like nothing before, yet were organic and dramatic. Following the Amelie score, which was never properly released in the U.S., Tiersen continued making solo records across the pond, eventually composing another well-thought-of score for a movie called Goodbye, Lenin - also great. Now, all these years later and after a huge amount of success in France, Tiersen has released his first proper stateside record, Dust Lane, for U.S. indie Anti- Records.

Though Americans know Tiersen mostly as a whimsical-yet-technical composer, he has, in his native land, released music that can be grouped in with a number of different genres, including post-rock and even progressive rock. For Dirt Lane Tiersen has taken the guitar-driven style he's flirted with along the way, creating an eight-song epic that should alert a new fan base, likely comprised mostly of 20- and 30-something males who dabble in early 70s electric jazz, loved Radiohead deeply for a period and now talk mostly about Canadian collectives, "movements," Sigur Ros, Mogwai and, probably, French films.

The strings and accordions, xylophones, harpsichords and melodicas pop up here and there, but the focus is on the electric guitar, which Tiersen is masterful - if not showy - with when it comes to composing. Also, the vocals, which aren't used in a hook-verse-hook format, are all in English, a first for the artist. And while the vocal tracks are all very effective and enjoyable, they work only to hold together and decorate the accompaniments, never offering any real lyrical depth, merely presenting a theme focused focused on morality and introspection. Mostly, there's chanting, choruses and vocals made to sound like samples - all things that add to the epic build and swell of each song. 

So, yes, the focus here, as it should be, is on Tiersen's great compositions. As always for Yann, the songs are very approachable for listeners with widescreen palates, effortlessly creating a cinematic spin on the sound of bands like Godspeed You Black Emperor and even producers like Jel and Prefuse 73.

The result is an album worthy of breakthrough hype, full of rich, deeply composed and highly enjoyable post-rock that arrives as fully formed as any Silver Mount Zion out there. Certainly created for the American alternative market, Dust Lane should, if people actually hear about it, open new doors for one of France's most beloved musicians. I could go on and on about the many details of Tiersen's new masterpiece, but will refrain, for fear that doing so might take away some of the fun of exploring these songs for yourself. Not just for fans of Mogwai and even obvious flagship bands like Radiohead, Dust Lane could and should do well with a number of sub-markets. Sophisticated ears, I suppose you could say, will find much to love here.   9/10