Cabane - Grande est la Maison (2020)

Thomas Jean Henri is a photographer beyond his musical activity, and if you like, you can hear that in his CABANE project. The solo debut "Les Heures de Raison" by the former drummer of Venus, who was something of a local hero in Belgium before he left after two studio albums at the turn of the millennium, was released in 2007 under the name Soy Un Caballo Restart, which nevertheless had a longer lead time.

Finally, the pre-release 'Sangokaku' with Oldham appeared in its original form on vinyl in 2015 and still serves as a good location for CABANE's sound. Henri has them and other compositions, however, together with the copywriter Caroline Gabard and Sam Genders, arranger Sean O'Hagan (High Llamas, responsible for the string parts) and the additional voices of Will Oldham aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy and Kate Stables (This Is The Kit) beefed up.

Again, that doesn't mean that "Grande est la Maison" is an exuberant album - on the contrary. The material exudes something rural, pastoral, a latent sixties flair in the spirit of more or less tragic characters like Nick Drake or Tim Buckley. Minimalist, sometimes slightly more expansive and chorally staged as in the closing 'Until the Summer Comes', this creates a familiar image of folk with quirky pop accents.

Stables shapes many pieces with her innocent voice like 'Nico Päffgen (The Velvet Underground) (' Now Winter Comes', 'Easily We'll See'), but Billy's own haunted organ makes' Sangokaku 'an outstanding track on the record.

CONCLUSION: In barely more than 35 minutes, "Grande est la Maison" unfolds incredibly beautiful (you may bluntly use the word) songwriter music with an archaic character, which is not just a bit of the freak folk of the British pioneer Comus or Pentangle has - mixed with typical French chanson coloring, mind you and therefore not so anachronistic, but quite independent.

cabane's first album is the outcome of Belgian composer Thomas Jean Henri bringing together the American Will Oldham (Bonnie 'Prince' Billy) and English musician Kate Stables (This Is The Kit), to perform some songs arranged by Sean O'Hagan (The High Llamas); a dream line-up for this collection of tunes, bordering on both folk and orchestral pop. Far from the maddening sounds, ‘Grande est la maison’ will be a warm shelter for lovers of Nick Drake or Vashti Bunyan.