|
Laurence Revey
Laurence Revey uses the spoken word like an instrument, transforming various emotions into audible sounds, sometimes gentle, sometimes throaty, and integrating them into her music until words and music become one, hence creating a unique musical experience. Even though the singer is originally from the Canton of Valais, working with great producers such as Arto Lindsay (David Byrne of the Talking Heads, Laurie Anderson), Iceland’s Valgeir Sigurdsson (Björk), Dr. Das (Asian Dub Foundation), Hector Zazou (Real World), and especially Bardi Johansson (Bang Gang), has never really connected her music to the more traditional one of her native Valais. Laurence Revey, firmly rooted in the Swiss Alps with mind soaring high in the musical stratosphere, surfs between electronic pop and rock. Her music often brings to mind the sounds of Goldfrapp, Massive Attack and sometimes even Kate Bush, without ever losing the rhythmics or skimping on a solid musical base. Her music bridges the gap between experimentally open technology and the peculiar; music in search of artistic simplicity and honesty, without compromise; a mix between gentleness and surprising passages that claw at you.
|
|
|
During his travels through the Swiss mountains, in the late nineties, English producer Pete Brown (CREAM) discovered Laurence Revey. Subsequently he produced the young artist’s demos in London. Then followed a first album, “Derrière le Miroir” (1997), produced by another Englishman, Chris Birkett, the creative force behind the timeless “Nothing Compares 2U” by Sinéad O’Connor. Laurence Revey hence became an iconic figure. Her charismatic performances stood out and the singer soon began to perform throughout Europe.
Her stellar adventure continued with the “Le Cliot di Tsérafouin/Le Creux des Fées” (1999) album in which the artist made a veritable return to the basics. After having brought Laurence Revey on tour in Italy and with a wealth of experience for the Real World label, Hector Zazou acted as mentor. The album was recorded in a small church, in the Swiss Alps, with the village brass band. Laurence’s voice was enchanting and the album couldn’t be ignored. Naturally, the power of Laurence Revey’s emotions and the complexity of her works beckoned to several angels who turned their attention to her creation.
A great and daring alchemist, the artist brought about several magical encounters. She surrounded herself with the finest Nordic electro-jazz talents, for a hypnotic and hair-raising reinterpretation of her works: Norwegian trumpet player Nils Petter Molvaer (exceptional talent on the prestigious ECM label); Norwegian pianist Bugge Wesseltoft (key figure in electro-jazz music, “a new conception of jazz ”); the multiracial collective based in London, Transglobal Underground (Natacha Atlas); the cheeky Icelandic collective, Gus Gus (spotted by Madonna for their album, “This is Normal”); and lastly, the Swiss virtuoso bass player Mich Gerber (2000).
All the while, the artist continued to pursue her stage experiments. Laurence Revey’s flexible and enchanting voice embraced the rhythms of her own fabrication, to deliver a musical universe with a certain mysterious quality. She was welcomed at, among others, the Montreux Jazz Festival, the Mercado Cultural (Brasil), the Festival de Jazz d’Amiens (France), the Rudolstadt Festival (Germany), the Rome Jazz Festival (Italy) – the Paléo Festival (Swiss) – the Barcelona Forum (Spain) – the Sfinks Festival (Belgium) – Womex (Germany) – Midem (France) – the Dranouters Festival (Belgium) – the Summer Festival (Canada) – the 2006 Turin Winter Olympic Games (Italy) – the Vic Festival (Spain) – the Festival du Botanique (Belgium) – the Coup de Cœur francophone (Canada).
In 2004 came the creation of “Solo in Silence” using voice and live sampling. In an original concept Laurence Revey’s pure, crystal-clear, organic and wild voice reinterpreted a repertory of hymns between vocal trances and inspired paganism. “Solo in Silence” led the artist to the roads of Italy, the USA, Belgium and Germany.
At the same time, many of the artist’s titles were reproduced on labels or European compilation albums with musicians as prestigious as Daniel Lanois, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Jan Garbarek, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Lisa Gerrard, Lamb, Talvin Singh, Nittin Sawhney, Sussan Dehim
Iceland is where the artist finally completed production of her eponymous album, “Laurence Revey”. Started in New York City, this album offers an open and thorough exploration into the artist’s musical universe. The collaborations were daring, and included: Arto Lindsay, New York guitar player and producer; Tony Levin, Peter Gabriel’s key bass player; Valgeir Sigurdsson, Björk’s regular collaborator; Dr. Das, member of the Asian Dub Foundation; David King and his brass band ensemble from Manchester; the mythical voices of the Mongolian singers, Huun Uur Tuu, and lastly for the basics, a very inspired Icelandic aesthete producer, Bardi Johannsson.
From murmurs to telluric hymns, thanks to the nearly unlimited capacity of her voice, Laurence Revey presents an ambitious and accomplished album, all the way through the retrenchments of its explored diversity, creating an ideal equilibrium between electro-minimalist pop modernity and primeval hymns, for a heterogeneous and coherent album.
|
|
