‘It’s not you, it’s me…’
It seems apt that an album exploring the melancholy of lost or failed relationships and dream brings this phrase to mind. It’s been some time in the making, but Parisienne based singer and producer Jeremie Whistler follows up his 2014 EP Flakes with his debut album, a thirteen track collection of dark, soul searching Electronica, The Dawn (released on Bu Productions on 8th March 2019.) Whistler says that he wants to “merge electronic and acoustic sounds and create lush and dark atmospheres.” If he’s looking for an evocative experience, however, it doesn’t quite hit the right note.
The album starts off interestingly enough; ‘Seven Seas’ has an 80s electronic sound, is listenable and definitely the stand out track. From there, it all gets a bit down. It’s like that person we know who seems to have all of the bad luck, but doesn’t even have the capacity to do anything other than shrug their shoulders and say, ‘that’s life, innit.’ I don’t get the emotion at all, even though the words are there, and the sounds are right. For me, it doesn’t gel. It doesn’t so much ‘ebb and flow’ as flows to the point where I’ve completely lost where I am, and I can’t even remember pressing play.
It’s a shame because there’s a lot of promise here. The use of acoustic instruments, in particular the piano on the track ‘The Dawn’ add to the feeling of sadness and loss, but when the bar isn’t set particularly high in the first place, it doesn’t say much.
‘Fortress’ has a more 90’s electronic feel to it (think The Beloved), and piques the interest momentarily, but then the moment is gone.
I can see what the idea is here, and I can see how Whistler is trying to execute it, but overall, it just misses the target. That’s not to say it’s a bad album, it’s not. It is, however, nice and safe. There’s no hook, and there’s nothing innovative or edgy about it. Like the end of that relationship, I’m sure someone, somewhere will find something there to love and enjoy, but it isn’t working for me.
