Yann Tiersen listen to a newly recorded version of Rue des Cascades
YANN TIERSEN Listen to a newly recorded version of Rue des Cascades, taken from his forthcoming album feat. Gruff Rhys, John Grant, Stephen O’Malley and Blonde Redhead
YANN TIERSEN has shared a newly recorded version of one of his classic tracks, ‘Rue des Cascades’ (aka ‘Cascade Street’). Listen to ‘Rue des Cascades’ featuring Ólavur Jákupsson on vocals, here: https://youtu.be/DdpoXtLs05g Originally recorded in 1997, ‘Rue des Cascades’ was a highlight from recent tours which, in part, informed the tracklisting for his forthcoming album, Portrait, out on 6 December 2019.
Tiersen explains, “I always had it in my mind to re-record it one day.” The opportunity to re-record the track, along with 21 others from across his career and three new songs, presented itself after the completion of his recently built analogue studio on a remote Breton island. Collating his work, and working alongside collaborators such as John Grant, Gruff Rhys from Super Furry Animals, Stephen O’Malley from Sunn O))), and Blonde Redhead has given Tiersen the opportunity to re-present his music and place it back into its intended context, giving fans an opportunity to rediscover beloved tracks in what Tiersen considers to be their definitive versions.
Tiersen says “The apparent lightness or simplicity of some of my tracks has always been a disguise or reaction to their darker side. For instance ‘La Dispute’ is about extreme violence, blood, death and the strange state of shock you feel in the moments after something horrible has happened. That’s one of my darkest tracks and I’ve always felt uncomfortable with the idea of people thinking it’s a romantic thing to listen to on a date. People seemed to understand it when it was first released, but the use of my music for cinematic purposes put a sort of false mask on the face of the monster. I feel that Portrait puts my tracks in context again so people can listen to my music and see it for what it is and not for what it’s been used for.”
Portrait, a collection of 25 newly recorded tracks from throughout his career that includes three new songs, will be released on heavyweight triple vinyl, double CD, cassette and digitally. Both the clear and black vinyl editions of Portrait include an exclusive 7” with brand new alternative harpsichord versions of ‘Comptine d’Un Autre Été (L’Après-Midi)’ and ‘The Waltz of the Monsters’, unavailable elsewhere.
Recorded with musicians together live in The Eskal studio to 24 track 2 inch tape, mixed to stereo ¼ inch tape then mastered from tape to vinyl, the album is a fully analogue approach for Tiersen. “Limiting our ability to digitally manipulate, overdub or make changes after deciding a creative path gave an energy and beautiful tension to the recording process which I’d found was being lost with the limitless possibilities of digital recording. Not translating sounds into 1 and 0 keeps music in the real world.” The result is a vital album that fizzes with the excitement and energy found at a live concert, but packed into a studio album.
The tracks span Tiersen’s entire career: from his debut album The Waltz of the Monsters (1995) through to Dustlane (2010) and includes his most recent albums, EUSA and ALL. The album includes ‘Porz Goret’, ‘Rue des Cascades’, ‘Monochrome’, ‘Comptine d’Un Autre Été (L’ Après-Midi)’ and ‘La Dispute’.
PORTRAIT TRACKLISTING
Introductory Movement (featuring Stephen O’Malley)
The Long Road (La Longue Route)Monochrome (featuring Gruff Rhys)Chapter 19 (featuring Ólavur Jákupsson)Rue des Cascades (featuring Ólavur Jákupsson)The Old Man Still Wants ItGwennilied (featuring Emilie Tiersen)Prad (featuring Stephen O’Malley)Diouz An Noz (featuring Emilie Tiersen & Ólavur Jákupsson)Porz GoretLa DisputePell (featuring Emilie Tiersen) Erc’h (featuring Ólavur Jákupsson)The Wire (Sur le Fil)The Waltz of the Monsters (featuring Emilie Tiersen)Closer (featuring Blonde Redhead)NavalThe JettyKoad (featuring Ólavur Jákupsson)Prayer No.2Gronjord (featuring Ólavur Jákupsson)Kala (featuring Ólavur Jákupsson)Comptine d’Un Autre Été (L’Après-Midi)Tempelhof (Part 2)Thinking Like A Mountain (Feat. John Grant & Stephen O’Malley)Pre-order: https://mute.ffm.to/YT-Portrait
All pre-orders from Yann Tiersen’s store and Mute Bank will be packaged with exclusive set of analogue printed photographs taken during the recording session at The Eskal. Listen to the first two tracks to be launched from the album, ‘Introductory Movement (feat. Stephen O’Malley) and Monochrome (feat. Gruff Rhys): ‘Introductory Movement’ (feat. Stephen O’Malley)
Monochrome’ (feat. Gruff Rhys)
Rue des Cascades on YouTube