Bastien Keb - The Killing of Eugene Peeps (2020) [Hi-Res]

An ode to Giallo, 70’s crime flicks and French new wave cinema; Bastien Keb’s third album The Killing of Eugene Peeps is an imagined score of downbeat anti-ballads, cinematic instrumentals, psychedelic-folk and warped soliloquies. Originally made in three parts: film score, soundtrack and incidental music; the record develops in a dream like state, a narrator periodically guiding the listener between songs of longing and regret - “I always wanted more, I always hoped there was more”.

The sequencing of The Killing of Eugene Peeps unfolds akin to a film. Songs like Lucky (The Oldest Grave), Rabbit Hole, Alligator and mid-album rap tangent Paprika suggest they would soundtrack key set-piece moments. Evocative instrumental passages shift and link moods and themes between them; from brief minimal-jazz meanders (Murmurs), psychedelic funk (Street Clams) to ethereal romanticism (All That Love In Your Heart). Throughout, the mysterious narrator in turn lends clarity and ambiguity to the story, monologuing his deepest thoughts over the distant soundtrack of a late night band and noises leaking from the outside world.