Cabaret Contemporain – Club Sensible

It has been almost 15 years since Cabaret Contemporain embarked on its fearless musical adventureand asserted a distinctiveness within the current scene. Resolute advocates of experimentation, its five members – Giani Caserotto, Ronan Courty, Simon Drappier, Julien Loutelier, and Fabrizio Rat – primarily employ acoustic means, skillfully manipulating their instruments using the famous « prepared piano » technique to create sounds and rhythms reminiscent of the electronic sphere. The result is fiercely unclassifiable music, dynamic and stimulating, a kind of hyper-organic techno mixed with minimalist music.
Six years after « Séquence Collective, » the group now presents « Club Sensible, » their fourth album. To create it, a slightly different approach was taken, especially regarding the instrumentation. Elements such as electric bass and synthesizer, integrated into the creative process, blend with the acoustic instruments used since the beginning. However, the approach remains the same, focusing on an intimate dialectical relationship between acoustic and electronic elements. Moreover, everything heard on the album is played by hand, without the intervention of sequencers. This renders the music lively, unstable, imbued with the imperfect human touch—a fundamental aspect of the overall project.
Recorded in late June 2022, the album was meticulously finalized through constant collaboration among the six members. Featuring ten tracks, all previously performed live from various periods, « Club Sensible » suggests the contrasting nature of the collection, at times highly energizing, sometimes ethereal, occasionally both captivating and soaring.
Starting smoothly, the opening track « Cheval » quickly accelerates, executing techno beats with finesse, guaranteeing an effect on dance floors without reaching frantic paces. In direct continuity, the following track, « Charpentier, » builds on an even more sustained rhythm, delicately pounding out joyful techno beats. Infused with a lingering groove and progressive ascent, three other tracks – « Barbara, » « Ballast, » and « Velours » – reveal an irresistible dynamism.
While capturing the fervent, highly communicative energy the group delivers live, the album aims not just to incite dance fever. More atmospheric, meditative, and differently gripping, tracks like Arc, » « Bora, » or « Levante » create suspended spaces and offer breathing moments. Throughout « Club Sensible, » there’s a balance between these poles, seemingly achieving an ideal equilibrium on the title track, at the heart of the album, and on « Polaris, » the (splendid) final piece. Inclined towards trance through various means, it keeps heads spinning without necessarily driving feet to tap constantly.