(2016) Benoit Pioulard - The Benoit Pioulard Listening Matter



Review: 
Over a decade’s worth of albums, Thomas Meluch took Benoît Pioulard‘s music in such wide-ranging directions that, by the time of Sonnet‘s expansive ambient instrumentals, it seemed unlikely he’d return to the project’s folktronic beginnings. 
However, he does exactly that with The Benoît Pioulard Listening Matter, an album title that hints at coming full circle: if Precis was a concise introduction, then these songs are a poignant summary. Benoît Pioulard’s music feels lighter and freer than ever, even as it touches on heavy subject matter. Within half an hour, Meluch reflects on life’s impermanence (“Narcologue”), the fleeting comforts of vice (“Layette”), and mortality (“A Mantle for Charon”) in ways that give Precis’ affecting simplicity a greater depth. On songs such as ”Perennial Comforts” and the gorgeous “I Walked into the Blackness and Built a Fire,” he couples his flair for atmosphere with lyrical storytelling that paints a more complete picture of his world than ever before. Meluch surrounds these deep dives with ambient pieces that are the mainstay of Benoît Pioulard’s work — the breezy album opener is even called “Initials B.P.” — and the interplay of space and texture is lovely as always on “In-the-Vapor” and the velvety final track, “Ruth.” 


Tracklist: 
01 - Initials B.P.flac 
02 - Narcologue.flac 
03 - Anchor As the Muse.flac 
04 - A World of What-There-Is.flac 
05 - Layette.flac 
06 - I Walked Into the Blackness and Built a Fire.flac 
07 - Like There's Nothing Under You.flac 
08 - Perennial Comforts.flac 
09 - Defect.flac 
10 - A Mantle for Charon.flac 
11 - In-The-Vapor.flac 
12 - The Sun Is Going to Explode But Whatever It's OK.flac 
13 - Ruth.flac 

Summary: 
Country: USA 
Genre: alternative folk, ambient, dream-pop