Chams - L'âme agit (2020)

Chams' debut album, L'Âme agit, may seem at first glance to be marked by an unusual contrast.

The first part, wild and primitive, is in stark contrast to the careful delicacy of the second. Yet the project, when considered in its entirety, goes far beyond this apparent contradiction and appears as a single, united whole. In fact, a closer look to it will reveal its listener an attempt to synthesize the complexity of the Soul in all its depth, to transcribe the diversity of human emotions in its entirety.

Here, rasping roars coexist with elegant serenades, and glorious melodies accompany the dark basses’ blasts to form an almost perfect balance between the soft and the hard, the good and the evil, the black and the white, no longer one or the other.

Chams' lyrics, which punctuate almost all the tracks, are alternately raw and bitter, then sweet and poetic, and reinforce the impression that nothing could have had its place on the album without its strict opposite also being present.

In the end, it becomes almost impossible to label this record, as all the intentions felt behind it are accompanied by their contrary, and it seems that this will of absolute neutrality, of totale plenitude, is precisely what’s at the origin of 'L'Âme agit'.