AUDE VENTS CONTRAIRE ALBUM POLYDOR FRANCE RELEASE: JUNE, 2001 REVIEW: SEPTEMBER 6, 2001

The workaholics Bill Leeb and Chris Peterson have managed to squeeze in this album between making the Delerium album "Poem" and the forthcoming Front Line Assembly album "Epitaph". Here they are helping their friend Aude with her debut solo album. Aude sings on before mentioned "Poem", and during the work for that album the friendship blossomed that resulted in this record. Leeb and Peterson haven't written any of the songs, they are responsible for producing and programming.
Although the music sounds a lot like Delerium on first glance, there are differences. The songs here are more laid back and contemplative. Some songs consist of nothing more than Aude's voice over piano and strings. Aude's singing voice is often very light and soft, and the fact that she is singing in French makes it even more intriguing, at least for me who does not understand the words. The mixture of piano, beautiful vocals, strings and crisp electronics makes for a very interesting listen. The only drawback are that the songs themselves sometimes can't maintain your interest, and melds into the background. That's allright, because suddenly a song comes along that gets your attention again and makes you smile.
This album is unfortunately only released in France for the time being, but will be released world-wide eventually. I can recommend anyone to pick this one up, especially if you are into Delerium's style and world music. Bill Leeb fans will buy this anyway.

JOHAN CARLSSON