‘Broken Allures’ is the fifth album from the trio of Jac Berrocal, David Fenech and Vincent Epplay.
Jacques ‘Jac’ Berrocal is a respected figure in the French avant-garde scene and known for his specific trumpet sound and his distinctive blend of jazz, rock, and experimental styles. David Fenech works in genres ranging from experimental electronic to avant-pop and Vincent Epplay is a sound/visual artist and musician recognised for his experimental compositions and installations. They have enlisted a couple of guests to add their talents on this album in Cosey Fanni Tutti (Throbbing Gristle) who adds vocals, cornet, and electric guitar on three numbers and Jah Wobble (founding member of Public Image Limited) who guests on the title track.
The album opens with `Warszawa` which has a quite dystopian industrial soundscape with trumpet tones floated atop. There`s a haunting texture to `Tones Of Blue And Red` which has a repetitive trumpet tone and some whispered vocals from Cosey Fanni Tutti giving it a fairly haunting sense.
`Cerbère Passage` may well be Cerebus passage. In Greek mythology, Cerberus often referred to as the hound of Hades, is a multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld to prevent the dead from leaving. A recurring trance-like percussive beat permeates this offering with trumpet splashes and anguished cries spliced in at times throughout. Cosey Fanni Tutti`s husky vocals are sprinkled over a repetitive rhythm on `Outspoken Cares`s which creates an alluring atmosphere.
`Viva La Hacienda` again has Cosey Fanni Tutti assisting with this instrumental number that has electronic beeps, clanging, gurgling and pained howls. When reflecting on this piece she shared that she recalled her time recording with Throbbing Gristle. Zadar, a city on Croatia’s Dalmatian coast, known for the Roman and Venetian ruins may be the subject matter for `Zadar Melodia` a peculiar composition which is fairly ambient. `Morocco Shanghai` appears to slice snippets of what may be auditory references to both places namechecked in the title with trumpet tones freebased throughout. Jah Wobble adds his bass proficiencies to the title track `Broken Allures` which has a kind of mesmeric almost hypnotic quality.
The amusingly titled `Coiffeur Pour Vince` or hairdresser for Vince has an underlying rhythmic beat with a spoken word narrative shared in French over its resonance. We have a further evocative listen with `Christal Venus` with again a spoken chronicle shared in French.
We have plenty of French vocal samples interspliced throughout the lifetime of the fairly jazzy textured `Sondelimosa`. This release concludes with `Preacher Feature` which kind of rolls along with an evangelistic like diatribe expressed over its emotive trippy soundscape.
`Broken Allures` is both alluring and repelling at the same time but also utterly compelling. A strange, interesting, fascinating, and irresistible mix match of sounds, samples and jazz like tones that will draw you into its many layers over its forty-minute life span. Strange but also at the same time oddly beautiful.
Rating 8/10
