young gods: data mirage tangram

Under Franz Treichler's wings, huge, breathtaking panoramas unfurl like beautiful dreamscapes on the edge of sleep, a weightless dream that is both comforting and blackened with darkness. A return to known land, whose topography has been modified by time and age is what comprises the matrix of Data Mirage Tangram, the new Young Gods album. Eight years without a studio album; it was about time they followed up on Everybody Knows (2010) and addressed the period of "artistic confusion" -- in Treichler's own words -- that followed Al Comet's departure and replacement with original god Cesare Pizzi. The subsequent tour brought a breath of fresh air to the trio, revitalized by this return to their roots. Rock and electro avant-gardists are not known for their backward-looking attitude. Still, thirty years of uninterrupted activity, could only strengthen the gods' will to write a new chapter. Data Mirage Tangram was born in a basement amidst people. Treichler (lyrics, guitar, electronics), Pizzi (sampling, electronics), and Bernard Trontin (drums, percussion) accepted Cully Jazz's invitation to set up on the stage of the THBBC wine cellar for an open laboratory for the duration of the festival. "The audience came and went. We didn't feel obliged to present a finished product. It was really stimulating." At the end of the residence, the seven tracks of the album existed but their curves still needed to be shaped. The band incorporated the songs into their live repertoire, fine-tuning them for three years into their final structure, captured in Franz Treichler's studios and mixed on the console of English record producer Alan Moulder (Nine Inch Nails). The result is to be savored as a major album by The Young Gods and an addition to their multiple experiences as well as their shared DNA. Each track exists for itself while creating a coherent ensemble, a united journey in seven unique steps. In this digital world, which the gods explore like visionaries, the music breathes and breaks free, undulating on the string of a guitar that once again takes centre stage. How would one sum up the Young Gods' history? "A long road," says Treichler. A road that unfurls and stretches out to the horizon and its mirages.