26/10/2016 – Roger Goula-Overview Effect (2016)
Roger Goula delivers a luscious yet brooding album that requires repeat listens to crack its code, but first Goula has just released a new single too
Roger Goula is gearing up for this debut album, Overview Effect, to be released. This is a singular album that stands head and shoulders above a majority of 2016’s releases. The reason for this is that the music is exquisite. Beautifully crafted melodies jostle for your attention alongside electronic glitches and bass throbs. As this is a neo-classical album the subject matter is a bit deeper/complex than your standard pop/rock albums, whose themes generally run beteen boy meets girl, etc, etc.
Overview Effect is based on the psychological shift in awareness of astronauts viewing the Earth from orbit. Goula was inspired by the experience of looking at the Earth as it is in space, a small blue and green ball and how it transforms astronaut’s understanding of what it means to inhabit this fragile, yet strangely durable world. He explains it thus “The idea of a psychological shift of how we see our home – the Earth – interested me enormously as the central theme for this project, particularly the concept of a psychological journey. This focal point gave me a huge amount of inspiration from which to generate musical ideas that would develop to eventually become this album. Having internalised the idea of the overview effect, I began to sketch compositions for the album, using the concept to guide the material.”
New single Overview Effect opens it what sounds like sample of a chainsaw being manipulated before glitch electronics and delicate strings take over. As the tension slowly builds, through taught violins, and maundering synths, a complex, layered dance takes places between the musical elements, before everything slowly fades away and we are left with a haunting orchestral motif. Think of Digitonal being produced by MXLX and you’re on the right tracks.
After the introduction, and early portions of Overview Effect it feels like Goula is making us work for the beauty he has lined up. He’s almost saying “How much of this discordant noise can you take?” before pulling back the curtain to reveal what the track is really about.
Goula has crafted a song, and album, full of luscious orchestral melodies, but also rammed full of brooding electronics that requires repeat listens to crack its complex, yet transfixing code.
Overview Effect is released on 4th November through Cognitive Shift
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Listening to the song while reading your description of it, I kept thinking, “He nailed this.” You did a masterful job of putting into words what the song is doing. And when you get to the heart of the matter, that he makes us “work for it”, it made me want to push through the uncomfortable beginning to get to the end. And I’m so glad I did, the reward was well worth my time.
I’m really glad you made it to the end. The pay off is really worth it!
definitely this album would rock !!
I’m very excited about this album!