Histoire Naturelle

Recorded over a few years at home on an old eight-track machine, Histoire Naturelle is a lovingly crafted, trippily melancholy album that has subtle hooks and lasting power. Jonathan Personne is the name adopted by Jonathan Robert of the band Corridor, who play a sprightly brand of post-punk. He took all the slow, moody songs that didn't have a place in that band and worked on them with the help of friends and on his own. The result may have taken almost four years to surface, but one spin through the record shows that the time spent and effort invested was worth it. The songs have perfectly pitched, '60s-influenced arrangements, all the space filled with Mellotrons, chiming guitars, reverb, and vocal harmonies until it floats out of the speakers as if it was a soothing, sometimes spooky, cloud of sound. Most of the record is slow and moody and sneakily melodic. Songs like "Sans Nom" and "Larry" are in no rush to conclude, letting the atmosphere linger and the melodies slowly unspool. Robert's plaintive vocals are buried in effects, becoming part of the sound waves but still connecting emotionally; they come through clearest on the record's poppiest songs. The mid-tempo gem "Comme Personne" feels like the lo-fi psychedelia Todd Rundgren might have made if Nazz were a little less hyperactive, and the lilting "Dernier Voyage" has a gently rollicking approach not too far from Real Estate at their best, only more interesting. A few songs have some of the murky, diffuse feel one might expect from a bedroom project, but these short interludes serve to deepen the already enveloping atmosphere and make the more direct songs stand out even more. Histoire Naturelle is a lovely record to listen to -- the sounds Robert conjures up are masterfully mixed and matched -- and if one digs in deep, there is some nice emotional payoff, too. ~ Tim Sendra