Ensemble Du Verre - Jet-Black Notebook [Batterie Records 027]

Fresh on the circuit via Sönke Düwer's Batterie Records-imprint is "Jet-Black Notebook", the latest album release by the label masterminds long-time running project Ensemble Du Verre which caters a menu of eight new tracks and reveals a slight musical shift away from the 2016-released longplayer "Rooms". Unlike its predecessor which defo had a thing going for minimalism and melancholia touched by a slightly vintage atmosphere we see Ensemble Du Verre approach the songwriting process from another angle, heading towards a more Pop - yet, far from commercial - vibe present from the intimate, tender and romantic opener "Flawless" onwards, brings in a surprisingly bass-heavy take on FutureSoul with the subsequent "No Money Can't Buy" featuring Jan-Philipp Kelber on vocals duties, harks back to the deep vibe of "Rooms" with "Consciousness" whilst dabbling with a combination of autotuned vocals and an intimate, minimalist Jazz-infused backing and provides a massive JazzPop hit with Nora Becker on vocal duties when it comes to the title track "Jet-Black Notebook". On the flip Ensemble Du Verre picks up on a similar note, yet provides more of Downtempo / TripHop / Dope Beats vibe for advanced and musically well schooled dancefloors with "A Case Like Our's" whilst the "Song Of Songs" combines a tender, yet seemingly raw and unprocessed beat foundation with quite a complex vocal performance which, at some points, seems to be a little incoherent, slightly off-tempo and meandering in comparison to the rest of the album, "For Someone" brings forth a ballad'esque late night feel with interesting electronic background works, beautiful mid-track breakdown and more digital vocal tuning for a contemporary approach on voice processing before the final cut "Out Of Sync" is more like in sync with its minimalist piano melody, rumbling bass and sparse, yet distinct Downtempo beat arrangements as a foundation for a well-thought out closing that surely will sit well with fans of the ever developing musical outfit that is Ensemble Du Verre.