Villa Solitude, the latest offering from French multi-instrumentalist Bruno Karnel, is one such work: an intricate, deeply atmospheric record that straddles the borders of post-rock, progressive experimentation, and the darker fringes of metal. It's a work of quiet intensity, where absence can be as weighty as presence, and where solitude - far from being mere isolation - breathes with an unseen life of its own.
Karnel’s previous works (Las Ilusiones, Hic Sunt Dracones) hinted at his restless exploration of sound, but here, he leans further into a cinematic, instrumental-heavy approach, stripping away excess while amplifying raw emotion. The album’s concept - urban landscapes both imagined and fractured, desolate yet brimming with unseen specters - manifests in an audial world where reverb-drenched guitars stretch toward infinity, synths pulse like distant city lights, and rhythmic patterns shift like tectonic plates beneath the listener's feet.
From the opening moments, Villa Solitude conjures an air of spectral grandeur. Karnel's guitar work is at once mournful and defiant, navigating between the sweeping melancholy of Kauan, the structural unpredictability of A Noend of Mine, and the cold, detached pulse of post-punk outfits like Molchat Doma. Yet, despite these reference points, his sonic fingerprint remains distinct - an alchemy of textured layering and unorthodox progressions that never feel predictable.
The album’s collaborators bring further depth to this restless, shape-shifting landscape. Basile Combes (Dislimn) delivers percussive work that is both delicate and thunderous when called upon, while guest contributions from Matthieu Gajewski (bass), Artem Litovchenko (cello), and Polina Faustova (cello) inject a depth of orchestral melancholy. Thomas "Plec" Johansson's mastering ensures that every dynamic swell - whether in whispered, minimalist passages or in moments of towering grandeur - lands with deliberate impact.
Much like the imaginary cities that inspire it, Villa Solitude is a record of contrasts. It is both spacious and claustrophobic, serene and ominous. Karnel has crafted a sonic travelogue through places that exist somewhere between dreams and ruins, where the spaces between the notes often tell as much as the notes themselves. A masterclass in restraint and atmosphere, this is his most refined and immersive work to date - an album that doesn't just ask to be listened to, but inhabited.
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Thanks to Grand Sounds PR.
