French electronic music’s prodigy will finally performe in Wrocław. Thylacine recently released his brand new album, Timeless, a collection of 10 classical masterpieces (and one interlude) turned into entirely new works, and infused with the artist, DJ and producer’s very own brand of electronica.
Such an adventurous spirit stimulates and incites the young musician to see each of his projects as an experience in itself, with different approaches and ideas based around travelling. After recording his first albums on board the Trans-Siberian train, on the Argentinian roads and in the Feroe Islands (the magical Transsiberian, Roads-Vol. 1 and Roads-Vol. 2, respectively), Thylacine had now decided to opt for a journey in time instead of space.
After letting us on in with three different singles – the chill Satie I (based on Satie’s Gymnopédie No. 1), the bold Allegri (based on the almost 400 years old Miserere) and the more ambient Sheremetiev (based on the lesser-known orthodox choir hymn Nine sili nebesniye) – Thylacine displays his musicianship and agility in full on Timeless. This new album sees him climbing some of the biggest summits of music taken from the repertoires of Mozart, Beethoven or Schubert absorbing and revisiting classical scores like one explores new territories: off the beaten tracks.
On this album, Thylacine was guided by the desire to confront himself to different harmonies and tempos, with two objectives in mind: reconnecting with his own musical upbringing in a conservatory, and isolating the most iconic part of these most widely known music sheets. Successfully tackled, the challenge proved his own singular creativity. Sometimes he only samples a theme and sometimes he delivers true new interpretations of a work, but always with the same goal: not doing too much. From that perspective, the recording conditions were nothing but helpful: I was spending holidays in an isolated cabin in the swiss mountains when the confinement was announced. I didn’t plan to stay there a month and only had my computer, a keyboard and a sound card with me. This minimalism was salutary, as it made me avoid overloading melodies that are already extremely rich.
Instead of retreating behind some form of prudence, like anyone facing new challenges, Thylacine approached Timeless with the certainty of being able to procure the same change of scenery and the same longing for altitude that his previous projects provided. We find in Satie or Allegri some writing principles that are very present in modern music, be it repetitive themes or melodic progressions, he concludes, reminding listeners these symphonies and his powerful electronica were bound to meet.
