Paris-born and now based in Berlin, electronic producer Erwan Carstex attracted major attention from big names such as Sasha and Agoria when he first emerged under his Rone alias back in 2008 with his debut ‘Bora’ EP, and since then he’s gone on to release two albums, the second of which, 2012’s ‘Tohu Bohu’ saw him collaborating with Antipop Consortium’s High Priest. In the years since Carstex has continued to take his collaborations further, being invited by The National to contribute electronics to their 2013 album ‘Trouble Will Find Me’, and indeed that band’s guitarist Bryce Dessner appears on this third album ‘Creatures’ alongside a range of other guests including French singer Etienne Daho and Francois & The Atlas Mountains. There’s a deeply cinematic feel to the twelve predominantly downbeat tracks collected here, with an emphasis on sheeny electronic landscapes, and grand, often classically-tinged arrangements.
‘(00)’ opens this collection on a suitably epic note as brittle-sounding rhythms whir into life against a vast swell of brooding synth-orchestration and darting sequences add a bright and colourful edge to the sense of building atmosphere, only for ‘Acid Reflux’ to take the pace right down into near ambience as Toshinori Kondo’s unmistakeable treated trumpet bleeds out into a wash of gauzy synth atmospheres and a muted heartbeat-like rhythmic pulse. Elsewhere, ‘Ouija’ unleashes one of this album’s most extroverted and bass-laden offerings, sending dizzying synth arpeggios spiralling against swaggering hip hop beats and sudden bursts of DSP contortion, before the dazzling ‘Quitter La Ville’ sees Daho’s French vocals echoing out against pulsating synthetic arpeggios that call to mind some meeting point between the likes of Cluster and Pretty Lights as crisp rhythms roll against ghostly guitar trails and shimmering analogue pads. An excellent third album from Rone that’s best enjoyed through headphones, late at night.
