Down to the Bone

Parisian songwriter Sylvain Chauveau releases his acoustic tribute to the band Depeche Mode. Chauveau is highly-regarded in his home country of France, and is increasingly establishing himself as a composer/songwriter of beautiful isolationism -- an artist committed to the abstract sounds of silence. He also plays in the ambient-rock duo Micro:mega (alongside Fred Luneau) and in Arca, a cinematic avant-rock band (with Joan Cambon). He recorded an album with American percussionist Steven Hess under the collective name of On, to favorable acclaim. He's also a member of Ensemble 0 with Stéphane Garin, Joël Merah and Maitane Sebastian. Chauveau has already released four solo albums (Le Livre Noir du Capitalisme, Nocturne Impalpable, the soundtrack for the film Des Plumes dans la Tête on DSA, and Un Autre Décembre on FatCat), and all have proven to be truly modern French music, with a bent toward early 20th century chamber music and musique concrète, whittled down to post-punk pop melodicism. Entitled Down To The Bone, this new album features only covers from Depeche Mode for voice and acoustic instruments. For this tribute, Chauveau (voice, piano and guitar) plays with Ensemble Nocturne. Reflecting both somber melancholy and precise, minimalist grace, Chauveau transforms these tracks into items of re-interest, both for their compositional integrity and resourceful sparseness. Certainly, Chauveau's sonorous and warm voice ushers them away from their original electro-synth formality.