[Review] A Year In A Life – Logar's concept album

At the beginning of May came out a little treasure trove of folk. A Year In A Life is Logar's first concept album and we delicately savored it on a stormy evening with a cup of tea. Let us tell you…

Logar, honey extractor

Behind the name of Logar hides Clément Faure, a Lyonnais with sublime, subtle and intense folk music. Here no lyricism exacerbated, by jeremiads. It is sweet and sweet, unctuous and creamy without falling into fadaises. Tasty and delicious to ask for more… Like honey!

Although he lives in Lyon, Clément Faure is divided between Great Britain, Iceland and France. His music testifies to this. There is indeed something Nordic folk in his music. His way of using percussion no doubt, his way of singing too.

He is often compared to Nick Drake, but Logar is simpler, less orchestrated. His arrangements are more organic. No big studio or big medium. Just a good homemade jam. There is also talk of Elliott Smith, but Logar's music is not electronic. Only the acoustic instrument, some sound research in the atmosphere that surrounds it.

Initially a musician for others, he has been involved in his own project since 2012. It was in 2013 with the release of his EP Seasons (Acoustic Sessions) that he appeared the idea that would give birth to A Year In A Life. Intrigued by the seasons, the temporality and how a life can be punctuated in a year… Inspiration comes to him and with airs, words, stories that he decides to share. 

The recording began in 2015, in the Hacienda Studios in live conditions, with all the instruments in the same room. The project will expand over the stage before being fully financed on Ulule.

A Year In A Life, Logar's diary

A Year In A Life is a concept album of twelve tracks, one per month of the year, telling stories, seizing a moment, stopping time to better freeze its imprint. A piece of life in short but told in the manner of a tale.

We are very quickly tempted once we know this to try to understand, to dissect and finally imagine the experience that binds each of the songs. It is a game that takes place when listening attentively to the lyrics or simply by letting yourself be carried away by the sensations that each title provides. Each time it is a delight, each time we listen to a different detail. And then it's relaxing, without being boring. An intimate and personal music that we can easily appropriate!

Logar's storytelling: over the months, over the seasons…

The album opens with Spring (Doesn't Kow My Name), which like a morning breeze caresses our ears. It is easy to imagine an awakening, shy and determined at the same time. We are already entering the musical universe of Logar. A frank, warm and sweet timbre: honey that flows by itself and warms us. We realize that Logar is like that plaid in which we wrap ourselves when it is too cold to put a toe outside the duvet. This music is reassuring!

The Rose promises to be covered in thorns. The title sounds drier, more spicy. Maybe a restrained anger? A reproach? Under this apparent harshness, there is melancholy, a sadness that does not want to explode, but to be understood. A need to move forward so as not to regret anything. When you listen and listen to the lyrics, there is finally a hopeful message at the end. Touching!

April Fool Surprising transition with a strange agreement… If this track is the month of April, we can assume that the album starts with the month of February (where we dream of renewal), then March (where we wait for the rain to pass).

The piece that comes next (May) is called Little Bird: here the sun seems to have settled. This song is lighter, slightly bouncy. But if we have an impression of "groping", we are pushed: a desire to go out and walk, to enjoy … And…

… it is confirmed in Anyway (June) we hold a hand and the feeling of confidence animates this title. As an incentive to be who you want, to go where you want, to continue your path, your dreams! A kind of Carpe Diem somewhere behind this title. It's fun, encouraging and it gives little wings!

We are finally settled in Summer (summer with the month of July). We have a sensation of letting go contrasted with memories, as if we were looking later at a postcard or holiday photos. A little nostalgia and a title that seems musically tormented ; The rhythm is jerky and agitated.

Going Back Home (August), sounds like a ballad that is sung on the guitar on a beach or by a fire. There is a remnant of sand, sea salt or teardrop. Of a suave tenderness, no words, a song on the guitar … A transition home.

This is where I doubt my theory… Monsters & Witches would fall on the month of September, while it clearly evokes Halloween. It feels like a nursery rhyme. Perhaps also thanks to the choice of percussion that adorns this composition. The lyrics also give us this impression. Simple and effective, naïve and falsely candid. I love it!

Fall (October) is a gem. Voice guitar punctuated by cymbals… with a sound of room that lives in the background. You feel even more like you're with Logar when you close your eyes and let yourself be rocked. The sound then changes as percussion is added. It feels like the singer is taking stock of a kind of balance sheet as winter approaches. Another breath of nostalgia on this title. We gradually rise in tension, a crescendo just as rhythmic as in the text. In the end, we do not fall into the languor that autumn could bring.

Here is the title by which I discovered Loger: Rain Wind And Snow (November). As the elements go wild, we look at them through the glass and escape. Here the singer's voice stretches like that of Tom Yorke. We still feel this tormented spirit that seeks itself, that questions itself. Who would like to find their place!

Oddly enough, when I listened to Winter (December) I thought of Tori Amos again… But ultimately nothing to see. This title is bluesy rock at will. We love it! The guitar that squeaks what you need without scolding, Logar's voice that takes intensity without getting upset.

The last title, could be a lullaby. Danny Boy (January) allows us to hear this beautiful timbre rise in the treble with grace. 

With a real talent for storyteller, Logar poses as a storyteller in this first concept album. A beautiful busy year that leaves us wondering for the rest of his projects.