Bleep

Across two decades of quietly marvellous works, French composer Cécile Schott aka Colleen has always been a generous vessel for melody, harmony and rhythm; a carrier of sonic splendour, expressing through sound sentiments from somewhere beyond human emotion. Loaded with cosmic realisations at every turn, The Tunnel and the Clearing may well yield her most clear-minded musical expression to date.

“Truth, reveal yourself to me,” sings Colleen on ‘Revelation’, instantly catapulting her eighth LP like a shuttle into the distant galaxies of Laurie Spiegel and Pauline Anna Strom — where she has always belonged, only now with the warm analog synthesis production to rival these greats. Her deep psychedelia has its sights for further realms, guided by Colleen’s sense for lilting pop. The ceremonial organ drone and popping drum programming of ‘Implosion-Explosion’ are propelled as much by a dreamy, somnambulant vocal delivery than they are by the interplay of electronic squeaks and squelches. Colleen’s studied minimalism gives the entire album the impression of open space, a zone in which looping tones blossom and break in spectacular fashion.

The Tunnel and the Clearing plays like a subdued space odyssey, as the small armament of electronics at Colleen’s disposal travel light years with remarkably few instruments.