‘As When The Fall Leaves Trees’ is the enigmatically-titled first album from Italian electronic/post-rock project YOUAREHERE.
The three components of YAH are all part of the Rome instrumental scene; French Teen Idol(Andrea Di Carlo), edPorth (Patrizio Piastra) and micro (Claudio Del Proposto). The press release for the album discusses their relative influences and standpoints – micro representing the glitch and the power, edPorth the rhythm and FTI the melody. They cite Sigur Ros, M83 and Apparart as starting points. So far, so good. But how does all this work in practice?
The album is described by the group as “a concept album dedicated to the theme of change, metaphorically linked to the autumn, a season of shifts and reflections, and a starting point for a journey towards an improvement to be found within yourself.” I don’t know about you, but my cringe factor just went up to about 11. But we should not let the hyperbole of a press agent put us off. ‘As When The Fall…’ looks interesting, the artwork describes a worthy-looking aesthetic, and we are always on the look out for good music.
Opener ‘You Are Here’ has a suitably echoey, sweeping intro accompanied by a sample of children’s voices. It’s the kind of music which would suit a modern art exhibition, and I mean that in a good way. Unfortunately, the track does descend slightly into an unwanted glitch-house section which is too overpowering for the delicacy behind it. Balance is a key component of electronic music, and should have been applied in greater doses here. ‘Montevideo’ is, by contrast, a more urgent number, characterised by building drums ‘n’ effects. It can be throwaway and condescending to describe music as ‘filmic’, but I mean to be neither in relation to this track. The tune is clear and well-engineered, something which applies to the whole album.
As we venture further into the world of YAH, we become aware of the collective’s collective ambition. This is large-scale music, which is aspirational in scope. It works, sort of. ‘May The Wind Always Be At Your Back And The Sun Upon Your Face’ (that track title is *too* long) meanders along nicely enough, but never really goes anywhere, or imprints itself on your brain. The music is reminiscent of Sigur Ros, but the album also has essences of Whipping Boy, Mazzy Star and Sonic Youth in places.
Sonically the album describes some nice rural images, proving that electronic doesn’t necessarily mean urban. The tracks have an internal consistency, but the album as a whole is let down by a lack of overall cohesion. ‘Asyndeton’ is perhaps the album’s high point, with its stirring, building post-rock reaching Mogwai-esque completeness. The track strikes me as less laboured as some of its cohort, allowing itself to reach a fuller expression. It’s also not overlong, clocking in at (only) seven minutes. ‘A Dull City’ is also interesting, providing an almost garage-esque beat alongside some interesting melodic work. Unfortunately, the electronic bagpipes of closer ‘Relative Sweetness’ are rather laughable.
I do not want to be overly critical of ‘As When..’. Indeed, it has some fine moments, and, in the right atmosphere, might be beautiful, if rather bleakly so. It is serious music, produced with the discerning listener in mind. My major gripe is that it does not hold together particularly well, and the varying styles don’t seem to hang together as a whole. The project is obviously very ambitious, but I am not entirely convinced that wide-scale, cinematic soundscapes works particularly well with glitchy, energetic electronica. ‘As When…’ may be a case of ‘one or the other, lads, one or the other…’
You can judge for yourself, as the album will be released, as a free download, on December 15th, 2011 by 51beats, and a limited CD edition, featuring the 9 original tracks as well as 2 remixes, will be released in 2012.
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