// Le Lendemain // After The Excitement //

The cinematic score sound is all well and good and has been used increasingly in contemporary rock and pop music. The more judgemental of us expect the exponents to be perhaps an established group branching out and exploring their musical boundaries (Radiohead circa OK Computer and beyond) or, a 5 piece rock group with unhealthy addictions to box sets and access to 22nd century technology (Mogwai). This might be true but their sound and cinema are viewed in HD.

So what does cinematic rock sound like if one guy with a fraction of the facilities and budget attempt the same? The new EP from Le Lendemain describes the answer  in a comforting epic of home video nostalgia. After The Excitement is an exhibition of warmth and emotion capturing visions of everybody’s introspection that makes this so cordially accessible.

Richard Haylock is a song writer based in North London. He committed to studying the technicalities of production and has compiled enough material for this EP and another that will follow in due course. More importantly, however, he has unearthed an organic style personal to him.

Haylock cleverly sequences the tracks enticing you in before ensnaring you entirely. Outside In daringly avoids a sickly sweet start and instead stages the set for the more atmospheric tracks to follow. The opening track gently rolls along as if unaware of the gentle string flourishes adorning the rhythm, and in the spirit of the record these are joined by momentous clashing cymbals and kinetic guitar distortion rendering a wall of passionate sound swirling to its glorious conclusion.

The second track track is the reincarnation of The Hawk Is Howling by Mogwai, yet the dense sound is the work of just one man. This track has a precise power stored like a battery and called upon when needed. Haylock has allowed Le Lendemain to take shape naturally and subsequently an organic and meteorological aura fills the record. Free of the constraints of time and outside pressure After The Excitement flows sincerely, meandering through subtly differing styles and influences but fundamentally remaining forthright.

Good As It Was is a contradiction of human chemical reaction. Its languid waltz is matched by Haylocks understated lament, his voice matches the extended organ keys and drawn out notes in no hurry to go away, instead reinforcing an eerie and beautiful confusion. His arrangements conjur images of a exhaustion and regret following elation or dare I say excitement?

Haylock somehow makes this album feel like an instrumental score despite his vocal in 3 of the 5 tracks. He displays fine production knowledge in knowing when vocals are appropriate and when they’re not, he also has complete confidence in allowing the whole composition to do the talking rather than being drawn into the compulsion to over do things or show off. In the final two tracks this is evident as Le Lendemain progresses with pulsating mystery enough to find something new on every listen and heightens the excitement for the release of the next EP – I’ve Been So Busy.

Le Lendemain -After The Excitement is available on Bandcamp, Spotify and Soundcloud.

Words by Jimmy Gallagher