I’m not hugely knowledgeable about Belarus, if I’m honest. I know a bit about the Bielski Partisans (of Defiance fame). I know it has one of the largest chunks of primeval woodland left in Europe: the Bialowieza Forest. That’s about it, really. Of course, this being a music blog and not, say, a Lonely Planet web portal, you’d probably like to hear about Belarusian music rather than history or geography. Good news on that front.
Phil Gloire - Philip Zhybin to his parents – is a twenty-year-old who’s been making music for four years now. “Making” in the sense that he plays piano, guitar, drums, horns, synthesisers, and so on; sings; records; mixes; and masters everything himself. Also, he still has time to handle the PR side of things personally. As he puts it, he’s “independent”. You could say that.
He’s a man with a love-hate relationship with spaces: track titles from his debut album “Augustdelirium” include “Runawaybeforeidie”, “Talesfortheprisoners”, “Dissolveindivinity” … you get the point. But while he might not be fond of gaps between words, he certainly knows how to deploy them musically. The temptation for a lot of new artists is to throw all they can at a track – it can work at times, but think “less is more”. Phil does. Selective instrumentation, tight arrangements and a healthy dose of side-chaining all make for a record that really breathes.
NB – I’m not saying he doesn’t also know how to cut loose. Far from it. Mr Gloire is a man with a knack for moving between tempos and moods seamlessly and rather stylishly. Stand-out track “Talesfortheprisoners” is a case in point. I’m not sure whether it’s hats or rim-shots or something else entirely that he sends dancing about your head in the opening, but whatever it is it sure makes things spacious. And yet somehow, by the end, we’re in full-on Ratatat mode with swooping synths and thumping bass drums, and at no point along the way did anything jar. My favourite moment is at 2:44, where he gives you a sneaky little peek at what’s about to drop. It’s very Digitalism, and I like that.
Phil’s influences include the likes of Boards Of Canada, Radiohead, Björk and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, as well as a whole bunch of Romantic and Impressionist classical. All of those are certainly fair calls. Personally, I heard a bit of Maps and M83 - especially in the vocals – and “Sirenscantcry” has a definite vibe of Massive Attack‘s “Angel”. There’s maybe even a hint of St Petersburg’s Half Dub Theory. You could call it gothic glitch-hop meets alt-rock.
The next album is tentatively scheduled for later this year, but in the meantime you can check out a few of the highlights below. Plus, you now know more about Belarus. Win.
Connect with Phil Gloire – Facebook | Soundcloud | PureVolume | MySpace | Last.fm
Phil Gloire – ”Augustdelirium”
Phil Gloire – ”Runawaybeforeidie”
Phil Gloire – ”Talesfortheprisoners”
Phil Gloire – ”Sirenscantcry”
