Davide Balula
Pellicule
Active Suspension

Davide Balula's debut is fractured folk, sonic fragments weaving in and out of more traditional songs. Sort of like a more abstract Badly Drawn Boy. He sings in different languages but the delivery is so hushed you can barely make out what's being sung. "En Jet du Soude" has shaky singing and a repeated guitar line, but soon blurs into instrumental passages.

"Pour un Flaque" is intriguing passages of noises and a more traditional melody that reveals itself gradually. This might be what Radiohead's next album sounds like. "Iris em Arco" is sweetly simple, Balula's soft voice and melody taking the centre.

The closing "Viens, Va t'en" is a collage of sounds with voices drifting in and out. "We're gonna have no network" says a female voice at one point.

Pellicule is not an easy listen, but it is a very rewarding one.

Copyright © 2003 Anna Maria Stjärnell