Heal

Being a relentless sound explorer, Laurent Perrier had no other choice to cross paths one day with the world of modular synthesis and to prefer, over the scalpel precision of the laptop that presides over many of his earlier productions under several identities (as Heal, but also as Zonk’t, Pylône, Cape Fear and under his own name), the unpredictability of modular systems. That being said, Espace d’Incertitude, the new Heal album isn’t improvised at all but was on the contrary mostly composed as soundtracks for choreographic creations. Dedicated to two “historic” visions of the modular synthesis, Espace d’Incertitude offers two different sonic universes across its two sides.

The Buchla side, written with this mythical synthesizer takes advantage of its bareness to offer five repetitive and shifting tracks that seems literally born in real time, evolve according to the rules of a language as mysterious as it is accessible.

Conversely, the Mutable side is built from the modules of this French brand, leader of a renewed approach of modular synthesis, and adept of inventive sounds. The result is more ambient tracks, perhaps more typical of the past work of Laurent Perrier, which gradually merge into fragile constructions and play a game of faked mirrors with our perceptions.

Heal certainly did not wait to switch to modular synthesizers to challenge our expectations and plunge us into a delightful uncertainty. Almost all albums recorded by Laurent Perrier under this identity or another are welcome surprises that systematically refuse repetition and conformism. With Espace d’Incertitude, he offers us new organic and sensory worlds to explore and tame … while waiting for future surprises.

Laurent Perrier started playing music at the age of 15 as a drummer / singer in some local Punk bands. In1986 he joined the French industrial rock band Nox + started a label called Odd Size records (with releases of P16D4, Illusion Of Safety, Marcus Schmickler, POL, Asmus Tietchens, Thomas Dimuzio…). In 1990 Odd Size became a record store specializing in industrial, noise, ambient, deviant rock, new music, rock in opposition, experimental… As well as a mail-order catalog and the main source in France for those of us willing to follow those scenes. In parallel Laurent was releasing solo using various aliases: Cape Fear, Zonk’t, Heal, Pylône. Around 2000, he started working for dance, theater, performance, contemporary art and sound design and today he also teaches Modular Synthesis…