Courant Zero - Solari [Constellation Records 194]

Put out on the circuit via the long-standing Canadian Constellation Records label as their cat.no. 194 on September 25th, 2k26 is "Solari", the debut album by Courant Zero which actually marks a new chapter in the career of Montreal's Maxime Corbeil-Perron - producer, installation artist and co-founder of the Kohlenstoff label - and also his return to a focused production approach in electronic music applied over the course of eight tracks and a total of roughly 46 minutes runtime. Opening with the title track "Solari" Courant Zero pairs brooding and Dark-Ambient adjacent droning with tender, almost Post-PostRock citing twangy guitar loop layerings only to finally resolve in cinematic hopefulness and a folksy climax whereas "En Deca Du Reel" combines a similarly unperturbed approach to guitar tones with an earth shaking low frequency presence and harmonic structures surely harking back to his experience in audio-visual works as this piece in particular can easily be imagined as a score to experimental video works. With "Strange Aorta" the listener is drawn into a spatial Ambient nothingness which is immediately consumed by beautiful harmonic, and somewhat maritime, melancholia, later on partially disturbed and contrasted by digitally morphed abrasive background layers and quasi-mechanical rhythmatics before "La Peau Des Dents" brings forth what can be described as an amalgamation of Noize-driven (Un)Ambient alongside the closest this album gets to classic, yet stripped down Electronica / IDM structures and "Horizon N'Arrete" comes as a full-on surprise with its deeply romantic piano arrangements and rather calming, albeit somewhat twisted, overall feel. Furthermore the epic PostRave opening paired with heavy, yet skeletal references of Illbient and Industrial Bass Music of "Unyeldd" provide a slow creeping anthem for hyperadvanced dancefloors of the postapocalyptic era - and our favorite tune on this longplayer, btw - whilst "Eroding Us" indulges in the depths of heavy, danger heralding drones, seemingly reprocessed multi-guitar feedbacks and a foundation of Industrial Electronics beatwise before dissolving into a scenic panorama later down the line with the final cut "Journee Au Bout De La Nuit" waving goodbye on a rather hopeful, calming and peaceful tip although its chiming, shimmering main motif is slowly gnawed on by ever shifting layers of digital noize emerging from the depths of the mix. Cinematic. That's probably the right word to use for this album.

Album artwork on Instagram!