"Nuit Ensemble"
Perry Frank's new Album
Some weeks ago, Perry Frank released his new album. With "Nuit Ensemble", he went on a new path, mixing his fabulous ambient sounds with classic elements from the post-rock genre. So, the album is also one for you if you're more into this kind of music.
"Nuit Ensemble" ("Night Ensemble") is Perry's first solo album since 2020. He wrote the songs in early 2022 at Homeland Studios in Iglesias, Sardinia—except for "Nuit" which he released as a single and part of his "Sleep Cycle II" compilation earlier on. The outcome is a selection of eight unreleased tracks and two entirely new ones, ranging between Ambient and Post-Rock.
The composer recorded his album between January and June 2022. He released them on October 21st on Valley View Records. "Nuit Ensemble" features collaborations with Matt Tondut (When We Collide), Lauge (Agave), and Spacecraft (Dreams Fade Away). All three of them are also part of the Valley View Roster.
Harmonious and thoughtful
Perry told me he sees his influences in artists like Basinski, Brian Eno, Boards of Canada, Fennesz, Tycho, Bonobo, Robin Guthrie, and Harold Budd. What I can say about this part of his art is that this lead him to a very harmonious sound world full of reminders how special this world is and that we need to take care of it.
The fact he plays most of the instruments by himself to combine them afterwords and create these inspiring tracks is quite impressive. With the ten songs on this album, he managed to create a true night ensemble—energetic, impulsive, and very meaningful.
Tapes loops and harmony
Perry started his new work with the idea of recording the last track on the record, "Nuit", entirely by using tape loops. After he finished the track, he built the whole world of "Nuit Ensemble" around that song.
Each one of the songs on the album starts with a tape loop and then evolves with guitar and synth textures—layer by layer. And this is where post-rock has its appearance: Perry used nocturnal and dreamy guitar soundscapes to create wonderful misty drone sounds that seem to come from another time and space.
"Disappear & "End Of The Rainbow"
The opener of "Nuit Ensemble" is the slightly drone-infused track "Disappear"—the perfect start of a journey through a foggy night. "End Of The Rainbow" takes over and tells stories about a faraway afterlife. An interesting fact is that the whole second part of the song is the same track played backward. Perry used this technique to represent a sort of eternal return.
"Moon Orchestra" & "Isolation"
For Perry, "Moon Orchestra" is the most symbolic track on the album—especially because of the technique he used to record it: He based the whole song on cassette loops following each other—sustained by drone guitars and soundscapes. The multi-instrumentalist wrote and recorded "Moon Orchestra" at nighttime when it was already dark outside—moonbeams coming through his window, painting an unreal-seaming nocturnal landscape.
It was a Korg Volca Keys on which Perry originally recorded the fourth track, "Isolation", which he dedicated to the lockdown times during the pandemic. For those of you who love to compare sundry instruments (especially the keys are always so exciting to explore!): You can find the first version of the song on Perry's Volca Session, which he released on his YouTube Channel in May 2022.
There is also a version of the song on the "50th Ambient Guitar Session" recorded at the Ex Nato Military Base on the Limbara Mountain in Sardinia. For Perry, the track is a message of inner peace—against all wars. With the new version, the artist combined two arrangements, starting with a tape loop processed through a bunch of pedal effects, leading to a really great drone sound in the background.
"Dreams Fade Away" & "When We Collide"
For "Dreams Fade Away", Perry worked with the sound designer and ambient artist Spacecraft. The two became friends over a single (Earthshine) and an EP (Moonrise) they released together in 2021 and 2022.
With "When We Collide", the album's mood suddenly changes—but not in a bad way. It starts to get more gloomy and moves from a dreamy ambient attitude into a post-rock manner. Perry wrote the track together with the Australian ambient musician and founder of Valley View Records, Matt Tontut. I like the guitar loop on this track a lot—the two musicians combined it with some melancholy synth and guitar sounds.
"Renoir" & "Oblivion"
With the next two songs on the record, "Renoir" and "Oblivion," Perry Frank continues in the same way—gaining some tempo with "Oblivion".
"Agave" & "Nuit"
Perry wrote and recorded "Agave" with his friend Lauge. You might know the ambient artist from Denmark from his record "Selvacapes", he made together with Perry in 2021.
If you've been searching for the perfect last song of your day, you may find it in "Nuit". It guides you into sleep, introducing you to the dreamy realm your eyes can't reach during the daytime. As I said earlier: The song is also part of Perry's compilation "Sleep Cycle II".
More about Perry Frank
Perry Frank, aka Francesco Perra, started his Ambient Music Project in 2005. His music is a unique mixture of guitar, synth, tape loops, and soundscapes—with a pinch of dreamy textures and just the right amount of arpeggios, melodies, and the timeless feeling of the world that lies behind our imagination. You can read my interview with Perry Frank here.