Marsen Jules
Herbstlaub
City Centre Offices
a version to appear in earplug

Though the literal translation of Marsen Jules' debut album is "Autumn Leaves," the album pulses with a vitality perhaps better suited to the budding leaves of an impending spring. Consisting of both live and sampled instrumentation, Jules has created a cohesive ambient work that draws equally upon electronics and subdued orchestral arrangements to convey a range of emotion, from warm childhood nostalgia and elation, to the doldrums of melancholy. The tracks unfold their limbs in an organic fashion, with no defined structure, but rather a hazy, open sprawl. "Tous Les Coeurs De Cette Terre," the album’s most emotive piece, consists of gentle string plucks nestled against warm tape hiss and understated swells of sound -- reminiscent in tone to Colleen’s debut LP, Everyone Alive Wants Answers. “Aurore” is considerably more uplifting, with warm, watercolor tones panning and surging. The track, like many others on the album, allows for vivid visual imagery, a testament to Jules promising talent as a composer.