Man Machine/Etienne Machine
Newly out on Humus Records (which always means it’s worth investigating!) is a 4-track EP from Lausanne-based five-piece, Etienne Machine, entitled “Every Little Dream”.
The art (rock) of the concept is alive and well in the land of Etienne Machine. “Mankind and the machine”, they write, “a duality that reminds us of a well-known melancholy of the 21st century, where feelings and sensations meet the cold of computers and the warmth of the turbines.” In terms of their music this translates into a richly textured and dynamic brand of indie guitar rock with shades of The National, Yard Act and, weirdly, XTC.
Formed by students at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne in 2018, the band co-founded “La Machinerie”, a collective focused on blending rock and electronic music. For the recording of “Every Little Dream”, they retired to a distant corner of France to concentrate on work. Once again in their own words: “Far from the buzz of traditional studios and equipped only with their own instruments, Etienne Machine set out to reconnect with raw, unfiltered creation. The result is a homegrown EP, shaped like a sonic diary — where each track bears the mark of that week-long musical retreat, blending brand new compositions with reimagined pieces first born during the A Playground for the Crowd era.”
