JEAN-BAPTISTE CALLUAUD (ex-member of the April duo, director of the Hesat Recordings and Hesat Campus studio in Bordeaux) releases its 4th opus entitled “Banjo Rainbow”, out since 28 November 2024.
Ten new tracks recorded at Hesat Recordings studio with additional drummer Xavier Richard (who had already played on the two previous records, but also with the group Warratah or the artist Jérémie Chatelain), the cellist Quentin Gendrot (aka Qlay, who played on the first album) and Diane Respinger, singer from Bordeaux of the groups Minnesota and Molly andCo who shares a duet with Farewell on the title “Wallets” and vocals on the title “The Houselight Maker”. The music video for the title “Tantrum” has been available since the summer on Youtube. “Banjo Rainbow” is the fruit of three years of production and distills themes such as the border between madness and love (Banjo Rainbow), the violence of feelings (Tantrum, Blitzkrieg), commitment and death. It is a reaction to modern society and favours a visceral approach.
The Rorsarch Test is test used by shrinks as they give you an image of an ink drop on a paper where they ask you what you see in it and has been used for the first time ages ago. The song starts slowly with some gently plinging on a guitar, followed by heavy drum rolls and sharp guitars with now and then a man screaming (death metal minded) and that’s it. A strange start.
Banjo Rainbow mixes metal with pop (harsh screaming and clean vocals): soft and hard. The duality makes it a very interesting song (although also a bit chaotic).
Tantrum sounds a bit like the title (with some metal crushes), some chaos but also some fragile passages. Tantrums might have been a better title as it comes here in the song: it comes and goes … (note a tantrum is an emotional outburst, most of us use it whilst speaking about one or more kids having a tantrum eg. an explosive moment as they didn’t get what they wanted and started crying, yelling, rolling over the ground whilst knocking with their fists and feet against the floor).
Blitzkrieg even has a cello (marking the classical touch) and yet also plays between hard & heavy versus soft and fragile.
Summer Rouge is marked by a piano and electronics, reminding me a bit of the highlights from April. The harsh screaming takes away the beautiful momentum, but it comes back (and goes like the waves on the sea). This coming and going of the tempo/genre sounds/feels like the new red line of this band/project.
The Houselight Maker brings back the cello and an acoustic guitar, together with a piano and Diane’s angelic voice. In between we still hear heavier/faster parts. It seems like nothing can stay the same for a while. I would have loved to hear a full classic version of this song (hence why not unplugged).
Draw The Distance is one of the best songs so far: I like the guitar play. The rage is still there, but we also get clean vocals and a soft breeze.
Wallets is a nice duet, with a good tempo, a bit of Franglish in the vocals, a classical touch and overall a great tone! Sounds a bit like a duet with Placebo.
Nina’s Pizza is the best track so far on this album: it rocks, keeps more or less the same tempo and hits hard.
XOXO starts softly with some electronics and vocals going through a vocoder and suddenly changes into a heavy and chaotic track with at the end a shotgun. It’s despite the title not the happiest and prettiest song.
Well: it’s an album with a story, mixed emotions (rendering the wave through the sound). It’s a good one, I just miss one soft song (check what I would have done with The Houselight Maker). Thumbs up for the rest!
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