Colleen’s mastery of the art of sound sculpting is fully displayed on Le jour et la nuit du réel, a beautiful 21 song double album that manages to explore the intersections of the material and the imagined, a sonic odyssey unearthing soul from synthesis. The album is organized into several movements. Each movement employs different synthesis settings, but with distinctive chords and motifs that provide a through line, guiding the listener through gorgeous sonic landscapes. Schott elaborates: “To me, the capacity of synthesis to alter – subtly or radically – the physical embodiment in sound of the same series of notes is akin to how, when given new information about a person or a situation, we can reevaluate our initial perception of what we thought was the “reality” of that person or situation, sometimes drastically so”.
Le jour et la nuit du réel‘s astounding breadth of texture and emotion were sculpted from a surprisingly minimal setup even for Schott – an all-analog combination of one monophonic semi-modular synth, the Moog Grandmother, and two delays, the Roland RE-201 Space Echo and her trusted Moogerfooger Analog Delay. A kaleidoscopic range of sounds speckle the album’s seven suites which mimic the range and nuance of emotions, both deeply personal and communal, parsed into two distinctive halves that represent day and night and the contrasting feelings each encompasses. One of the most consistently exciting voices in contemporary music, French composer Cécile Schott aka Colleen’s new album Le jour et la nuit du réel, is a gorgeous wellspring of sonic delights. It is a double album filled with gorgeous details that rewards the listener with constant revelations and sonic delights.