Coppergear
Experimental
(SteamPunk Alien)
We are no strangers to Canada’s Mathieu Lachance aka Coppergear, having reviewed his last, sleep paralysis inspired album ‘Relax’ and also featured him in a profile. So expectations are high, especially when he says “This album is the culmination of a sonic exploration. I poured all my energy and creativity into crafting a project that was both cohesive and original. It's probably my best work yet”. No pressure then. Fortunately for both us, and Coppergear, that confidence is more than borne out by ‘Experimental’, which is exactly what it says it is, a hyperspacial experiment in sound, swirling around your head like clouds of sonic vapour, each phrase merging into the next and growing in intensity before subsiding again. It’s a masterful demonstration of the art of making a soundtrack album, inventive and alien and brimming over with ideas.
Picking out individual tracks, as reviewers often do with albums, would be doing this a disservice, so carefully crafted is this to work as a whole. I listened to it end-to-end on headphones, which is by far the best way to appreciate the full range of textures included. 'Experimental' is both mechanical and orchestral ,with elongated reverb tails merging with throaty, springy synth tones and pulsing, almost organic stabs underpinned subtly by bass drum rhythms hidden low in the mix (there are no in-your-face drum machines beating at you here) which help push it along without dominating.
The surfeit of different sounds, ideas and inspirations on show in ‘Experimental’ imply a Producer’s touch, yet I don’t think Coppergear is a Producer, just a struggling solo musician from Quebec trying to create something special. The skill he demonstrates here hint at more to come and a potential career in that direction - if there was any justice in the world.
By the time the sixth and final part of ‘Experimental’ shimmers and jitters its way to a close with a single, triumphant note left hanging in the air, you know that you have witnessed a work of some quality. Coppergear is at the top of his game on this, with ‘Experimental’ appearing on download, CD and vinyl on his own label. That acts like Coppergear are forced to make their own way in the world is an indictment of the state of the music business, where the old and mediocre draw the big crowds and fill the record store racks, and the savvy have to seek out albums like ‘Experimental’ in the undergrowth to remind them of why music still matters to them. Be grateful that you now know about Coppergear.
Essential Information:
‘Experimental’ is available to download now from the Steampunk Alien Bandcamp site and to buy on CD and vinyl from Elasticstage.
Main image: Screen grab from Youtube video for 'Syncopated'
