Progressive rock has a broad back, and it\u2019s more common nowadays to pretend to hate it (as Radiohead members do, for instance) than to claim it, as the Tunnel duo does (and they probably don’t hate Radiohead). Drummer Kevin Warren has appeared in the Orchestre National de Jazz de Montr\u00e9al and with saxophonist Yannick Rieu, among others, and guitarist Fran\u00e7ois Jalbert, an emulator of Django Reinhardt, distilling gypsy jazz with his own combo. Note that this double winner of the Grand Prix de Guitare de Montr\u00e9al, presented as part of the Montreal Jazz Fest, earned a master’s degree in jazz composition at McGill University. Like that, I’ve just written the word “jazz” four times, compared to only once for “rock”, and that should give you a bit of a heads-up. But after all, is that so important and\u2026 what’s in a name?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The duo released a first EP, entirely instrumental, in 2015, and two of the pieces gathered here were released separately in 2018. So they’ve been working on this album for a while now, on which Kevin Warren sings a few songs in a vaporous voice. Several guests join Warren and Jalbert this time: Lex French (trumpet) and France Basilic (bass) inject a big dose of funk into \u201cQualit\u00e9 Camping\u201d, M\u00e9lanie B\u00e9lair does the string arrangements on two pieces, and R\u00e9mi-Jean Leblanc plays bass on two others. Also present here are the voices of Erika Angell (Thus Owls), on \u201cFalling First\u201d, and Lisa Iwanycki-Moore on the title track, which help adjust the colour of the m\u00e9lange. With a touch of Tom Waits on \u201c420\u201d, and a lot of Atoms For Peace<\/em>-ish Thom Yorke in \u201cSave You\u201d, at the end, it starts to sound like this other track on the album\u2019s title, a kind of \u201cPizza hawa\u00efenne\u201d (nice piece by the way, very evocative).<\/p>\n\n\n\n There’s a certain restraint throughout the album which dampens enthusiasm a bit, even though the musicians’ playing is flawless, but the programme’s varied, so there’s something for everyone \u2013 as long as you like pineapples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n