Beaten. Enlivened. Youthful. Aged. Fall of Saigon took the divergent and smelted them into an uneasy union. The rudimentary composition to certain tracks amplifies their energy, purging them of decoration for a focus on the iron grip of pain that permeates. Grief laden and cruelly touching. An obscurity brought back to the light.
[Release page] I first came across this minimal synth outfit back in the days of the Cybernetic Broadcasting System. The French group were formed in 1981 and released one 12” in ’82. The outfit bled with a shuddering sorrow, a heartening lament for a remorse filled life. Well, that was the impression I got from the couple of tracks I heard years back. Unbelievably the group, and their original EP, have been brought back to life by the reviving breath of Dark Entries.
The track best known to me is the gut punched and love lost “She Leaves Me All Alone.” Supposedly recorded in one take, “She Leaves…” is synthesizer simplicity. A drum machine is the central structure, pulsing out a beat as a tambourine accompanies. It is the dry eyed lyrics that cut the emotive chord. The rhythm pattern drives the track forward, heavily accented vocals tell of a torn relationship with a description, and sound, of such stark brutality that the message pierces the listener like a Renault does a crash barrier. The opening piece, “Blue Eyes,” is a far cry from “She Leaves Me…” “Blue Eyes” has something of a Portishead feel, Florence Berthon’s sweet voice meeting the gloom. “So Long” keeps the female lyricist for a string and songstress sonnet. Plucked chords that come from a post-punk and folk tradition. Bleak and laconic. My personal favourite is “On The Beach At Fontana.” The track judders, stumbles and traipses onward. Steady mechanical beats penetrate a delicate analogue line as distant vocals breath through the curtains. An alienated and dejected piece of electronics, a track whose desperation mirrors that of present day Europe. The close is a blissful piece of synth sadness. Breathy vocals are melted with thick luxurious chords for a reflective finale.
Beaten. Enlivened. Youthful. Aged. Fall of Saigon took the divergent and smelted them into an uneasy union. The rudimentary composition to certain tracks amplifies their energy, purging them of decoration for a focus on the iron grip of pain that permeates. Grief laden and cruelly touching. An obscurity brought back to the light.
Available on Dark Entries. [Release page]
