Album Review: Unschooling - 'New World Artifacts'
Unschooling surprise with debut album New World Artifacts, a joyride of exuberant guitar compositions weighed under a thickness of tape brilliance.
Since their first release in 2019, Unschooling has emerged as one of the brightest young groups in the misty in-between of the post-punk and math-rock scene. Their 2021 EP “Random Acts of Total Control” seemed to press a lot of the right buttons for listeners in Europe, especially in their home country of France and in the UK, where they have since played a repertoire of high-profile music festivals.
The quintet is formed of Vincent Fevrier on vocals and guitar, Damien Tebbal on bass, Paul Morvant on guitar, Marc Lebreuilly on keys and guitar, and Thomas Fromager on drumming duties.
Recorded mostly in a few live sessions on a farm in France, the group has created a sound which is drowned in saturated tape textures, yet still sounds very modern and innovative instrumentally and compositionally, with a brilliant mixture of harmony and chaos throughout the album.
The second track “Public Transit" introduces a mix of jangly, vigorous guitars spread to each side of the stereo, providing some very intriguing melodies whilst mirroring each other, before every so often breaking into bursts of euphoric, unnerving sections.
The record almost feels like a rollercoaster ride, riding through elements of melodic peace and tranquillity before breaking into exhilarating moments of disharmonic escapades.
A certain highlight is “Excommunicated”, which starts with a two-minute-long slow building inviting soundscape, which bluntly takes off energetically as Fevrier sings the song title fittingly with the frenzy of instrumentation that begins to unfold.
This frenzy then turns into a beautiful ballad of synth soundscapes which slowly descends into chaos, combined with a faint hint of a muffled, saturated speech altogether resembling a sound from the most fervent nightmare.
This is quickly settled down in the next track “Ribbon Road”, a soothing groove bringing peace back to the sound, backed by a delightful bassline and wonderful stereo drum sound.
The unconventional sound of the stereo guitars is the one constant feature that glues New World Artifacts together as a whole, creating a unique sound that really differentiates this record as a wonderful piece of modern alternative music.
Starting their UK tour at the end of this month, Unschooling is an act you will definitely not want to miss out on.
Words by Jay Cohen
