Artist: Univers Zero
Label: Cuneiform
Release: 1986
Rating: 4.8/5
What could possibly follow an album like UZED? The perfection they showed there seems almost unbeatable. But Univers Zero didn’t even try to repeat what they did on their previous record. With Heatwave they’ve gone off into some other spheres again, ones that are still familiar, yet different at the same time.
As is tradition with this band, the lineup changed again after UZED. Andy Kirk came back, but Jean-Luc Plouvier didn’t leave. So the new album ended up with not one but two keyboardists. Just think how masterfully Denis writes keyboard melodies, and now he has two top-notch players for the job, and your mouth starts watering. Andy Kirk didn’t just come back, he’s also responsible for most of the music on Heatwave. He wrote the opening title track and the epic The Funeral Plain, while the other two pieces are the work of Daniel Denis. The only one to leave the lineup was the cellist, who was replaced by Patrick Hanappier, who had already played violin and viola on the first three records. That gave them an extra sonic option in the form of high-singing strings. Besides these two new old members, guitarist Michel Delory has joined as well. So you could say Heatwave is a combination of Univers Zero from the Ceux Du Dehors days (thanks to Kirk and Hanappier) and from the UZED days (all the other members). And how did that combination turn out?
Right from the first track you can hear there’s nothing to worry about. Heatwave is a kind of continuation of Presage. It’s an extremely focused piece with not a bit of excess fat. Everything is structured and arranged in detail, yet there’s still plenty of atmosphere. Quiet, slower sections alternate with fast, louder ones, where the guitar roars out a couple of times.
Next comes the simpler Chinavox, composed by Daniel Denis. It’s built on just a handful of melodies, but those melodies are so polished, and so broken down and built up over the course of the song, that by the end it doesn’t feel simple in the slightest. It strongly recalls La Corne du Bois des Pendus from Ceux du Dehors.
Before the big finale comes Bruit dans Les Murs. Again it’s a simpler affair, but the piece develops so gradually and dramatically that a couple of minutes before the end it hits an incredible peak. In the last couple of minutes the mood calms down and all you can do is wait for the closing assault on your eardrums and your sanity.
And last but best – the monumental epic The Funeral Plain. Its author, Andy Kirk, says the piece is about all kinds of hardship that ultimately leads to self-realization. And that’s exactly how it feels. You can sense the torment and suffering in the music, but amid it all there’s also a feeling of liberation. It starts slowly with piano and synthesizer. Gradually other instruments join in, and when the guitar screeches at its loudest, we get the first climax. But that’s over pretty soon, because the music slows right down again. All you hear is some kind of chopping sound, and you already sense something majestic is coming. And it does, when the strings and winds come in, the composition draws breath again and there’s no turning back. It’s like an unstoppable train of emotions that only keep building in intensity. By the time the guitar joins in, the atmosphere is so electric that there’s no way out. The music is fantastic all the way to the end, and you don’t know where the twenty minutes went. The Funeral Plain isn’t among the most difficult compositions, but with its drama and its ratcheting tension it needs nothing else. Too much technicality would only spoil the atmosphere that only Univers Zero know how to create.
Musically, the album is played at the highest possible level. The two keyboardists are used to the fullest and their presence is felt throughout. There’s much more emphasis on the synthesizers, which flood the album from start to finish. In the eighties, keyboard effects were often a problem, but with Univers Zero that was never a limitation. They always knew how to find the most fitting sounds to conjure up just the right mood. Besides the synth there’s also the piano, which adds an organic dimension to the music and recalls the older, chamber-style days of the first three albums. Since they once again have a guitarist as a permanent member, after Roger Trigaux left, Heatwave has a more rock-oriented feel. Delory hits the strings really hard a couple of times. Even though Univers Zero were always dynamic and charged, they’d never sounded this rock before. They can still be chamber-like, but the rock side is more prominent here too. The violin and viola mean a lot to me and, as I said, add an extra dimension. Patrick Hanappier knows how to create just the right spooky atmosphere, which is so important for this band. For the first time we also get a combination of high-singing strings and clarinet, or saxophone. On Ceux Du Dehors we heard the tandem of violin (or viola) and bassoon (or oboe), and on UZED cello and saxophone (plus clarinet). This mix of solo instruments works very convincingly too, as Descheemaeker and Hanappier complement each other with total confidence. The bass isn’t as noticeable as on UZED, but you can tell Christian Genet is an excellent bassist and a worthy successor to the legendary Guy Segers. Daniel Denis shines on drums like never before. He’s like a jazz drummer. Almost no two segments are played the same way, and he has so many variations at his disposal it’s unbelievable. He doesn’t just keep rhythm, he’s the one constantly soloing on the drums, even if his solos are very refined and sometimes not even that noticeable. That’s another sign he’s the real leader.
With Univers Zero, even the effects that are purely decorative for many bands carry a special meaning. Some might find them distracting and superfluous, but to me they conjure up unique metaphorical images. For example, the chopping you hear in The Funeral Plain seems symbolic to me of some kind of destruction of life that leads to a new consciousness.
After an album like UZED, Univers Zero could have taken a step back and a serious letdown would have followed, but the guys were on a roll back then and nothing could stop them. They made an album that’s quite different from UZED and all the earlier records, while keeping some elements you can’t hear anywhere else. The gloom, the fury and the extraordinary intensity – it’s all very much here. Almost every time I listen to the album, my stomach knots up. The music is just so powerful and so aesthetically crafted. Maybe it’s not their most complex album, but in terms of building tension it’s undoubtedly the most thrilling one for me. It’s not as consistently polished as UZED, but the dramatic developments and peaks are so top-notch that almost every listen gives me goosebumps.
UZED is still my favorite album, but Heatwave doesn’t lag far behind. Most people swear by Heresie or Ceux du Dehors, but from UZED onward Univers Zero became even more focused without losing a speck of their spookiness. This is a band you could call the musical version of Salvador Dalí, because they can plant images and visions in a listener’s head like nobody else, and on Heatwave that surreal feeling is at its most obvious. Their music sometimes really seems fit for some other dimension, where the world is turned upside down. Terrifying yet beautiful, antique yet fantastical.
Lineup
Michel Delory: guitar
Daniel Denis: drums, percussion, vocals
Dirk Descheemaeker: clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano saxophone
Christian Genet: bass
Patrick Hanappier: violin, viola
Andy Kirk: piano, synthesizer, vocals
Jean-Luc Plouvier: piano, synthesizer, vocals
Production
Univers Zero
Track list
1. Heatwave 8:34
2. Chinavox 4:49
3. Bruit dans les murs 8:25
4. The Funeral Plain 20:24
Album length: 42:12
