Label: False Walls

1997年にCyril SecqとYvan Rosのギター&ドラム・デュオとして結成、その後ヴァイオリン奏者のVanina Andreani、クラリネット奏者のGuillaume Wickelを迎えカルテット編成に拡大をしたフランスはナントのベテラン実験バンドAstrid。即興音楽、フォーク、ポストロック、ジャズに留まらず、モーリス・ラヴェルやアルヴォ・ペルト等クラシックや現代音楽の要素までを取り入れ活動するグループで、本作ではしっかりと重みのあるクラシカルなアンビエント曲を披露。ジャケットイメージ通り、静謐さと程よい緊張感が漂う全5曲。





Founded in 1997 by Cyril Secq and Yvan Ros as a guitar/drums duo, Astrïd subsequently expanded and settled around the violin player Vanina Andreani (1998), followed by the clarinet player Guillaume Wickel (2005). The core of the group is based in Nantes, France.

Astrïd’s instrumental and expansive music has been inspired by improvised music, folk, post-rock and jazz, as well as by classical and contemporary composers, from Ravel to Arvo Pärt. Their work has been released across a number of albums on various labels, including Gizeh Records, Monotype Records and Rune Grammofon. Collaboration with other musicians informed Astrïd’s joint release with Rachel Grimes, Through the Sparkle (2017), and Cyril Secq has released duo albums with Sylvain Chauveau and Orla Wren.

Astrïd’s album Always Digging The Same Hole includes five pieces, each of which patiently and delicately charts its course through different dynamics and moods. The album foregrounds the group’s live performance, close listening and interplay, resulting in atmospheres which are hauntingly suspended and poetically suggestive.

The CD packaging was conceived by visual artist Peter Liversidge across a 6-panel gatefold sleeve, 16 page CD booklet and CD sleeve. Peter’s work was developed in response to the album, and is centred around a series of photographs, some including the band. In addition to his work for galleries and publications, Peter has also worked with a number of musicians, including album cover designs and stage projections for Low.

Band member Guillaume Wickel sadly died in 2022, and Always Digging The Same Hole is dedicated to him.