Mode in Gliany, the nom de plume of veteran French experimental synth composer and performer Boris Völt (also known as Cinématique Inverse, his early effort at the start of the 00s, as well as part of collaborative side projects such as Irène De Milo, Oknho, Sayat Nova, Premier Mouvement), returns with the two-track EP “Troad-en-traezh” (Foot-in-the-Sand),
Viscerally rooted in Northern Brittany‘s rugged rocky, and foamy sandy landscapes, Mode in Gliany‘s minimal and cold synth wave specimen evokes engrossing images of a perpetual wintry and windswept coastal ambience saturated with arcane dense mists and chilly vapours that swirl in leaden spirals of profound melancholy, like a haunted soul that is confronting the ever-changing force of a rugged, untamed nature.
There’s little spare room for light in the granular, monochromatic synthetic drifts, outside of ephemeral moments where narrow flickers creep into the impenetrable mist, allowing frail, numb voices and sinuous, lonely melodic shivers to seep, yet unable to fully stem the ghostly meandering of a restless spirit imbued by a lingering sense of inescapability.
Nostalgic, crepuscular, somehow achingly romantic moods, an indissoluble frigidity and an intense introspective wistfulness are the constants of the Breton musician’s artistry, which traces its shadowy, labyrinthine edges through taut, hypnotic rhythmic repetitions and dramatic, glowing string expansions, rife with a strong cinematic quality against an overarching sinister, droning backdrop. Like in “Est-ce”, rippled with obsessive kick drums, faraway harsh screeches, and a late growing roaring menace surrounding breathy, weak vocals that seem to struggle before finally giving up, while the beat-driven, at times stumbling “le goût des autres ?”, strewn with stacking, forlorn echo-y tinkly keys, captures and stirs with its fearful, surreal spoken word poignancy.
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