thisquietarmy – Langue Hybride

I’ve been reviewing thisquietarmy records for probably over 15 years now, and if by chance you have come across any of my previous writings, you know that boy, do I love a TQA album with live drums. Langue Hybride, which was released in mid-April on multiple formats by A Thousand Arms (US) and Consouling Sounds (Belgium), has a lot more going on than just drums, and this sonic complexity has already made the record one of my favorite releases in the ever-growing thisquietarmy body of work.

This latest release by guitarist Eric Quach is a combined effort, which was conceived during his music residency at Centre d’Expérimentation Musical (CEM) in the region of Saguenay—Lac-St-Jean, Québec, with the whole process taking less than four weeks. The signature thisquietarmy solo-guitar driven soundscapes are expanded almost to their maximum thanks to the contributions of the CEM musicians who’ve contributed drums & percussion (Émile Boucher-Cloutier), bass (Stéphane Beaulieu), guitar (Bruno Ouellet), violin and electronics (Jessy Dubé), cello and electronics (Isabelle Harvey) to Quach’s already heavily saturated and dense sound.

Not only does Langue Hybride feel more ambitious than almost anything thisquietarmy has previously recorded soundwise, but also musically. Just as the album name suggests, the music on Langue Hybride is all over the place, but all this variety of form, genre, and style is organically achieved thanks to all the creative minds you’ll find behind the record. From the signature thisquietarmy music, which is usually deeply rooted in post-rock, noise rock, and ambient soundscaping, the project has reached an even more psychedelic sound, injected with equal amounts of jazz, classical, improv, and larger-than-life metal music. This might sound too vast to be held together in a single recording, but believe me when I say it not only does, but I see a lot of potential in returning and further developing all those ideas sparkling throughout the album.

As I’m writing this, thisquietarmy is touring Europe and has already presented Langue Hybride live during this year’s dunk!festival edition. If you’ve missed that, you still have time to catch up on an amazing record by one of the hardest-working musicians out there, and if you like me, find yourself mesmerized by the album, let’s hope more of this is to come.