Channeling early 80s DIY euro electronica
Who He?
Martial Canterel is Sean McBride, who you may well be familiar with thanks to his work as one half of the lush Brooklyn-based electronic duo Xeno & Oaklander. Martial Canterel is his solo vehicle, which has been up and running since 2001, with the debut release cassette-only album ‘Sister Age’ in 2004. That was an impressive eight tracks which were clearly in the thrall of early British electronic bedroom electronica, complete with the vocal delivery of a teenaged suburban Londoner with a solitary reverb unit circa 1979 . If you’d like a copy, you can pick one up on Discogs if you’ve got £100 or so to spare.
Why Martial Cantarel?
There’s been considerable maturing of the Martial Canterel project over the years, and the new album ‘Lost At Sea’ is a buffed up electronic treat with a fulsome sound and impressive production, while retaining all the charm of the original idea. It never strays from its romantic and melodic core, but it allows the electronics to fizz and clank in all kinds of exciting ways. Each track is a careful construct, delivering a new sonic thrill every few bars.
Tell Us More
There’s not enough people with the nerve to open their mouths and sing over their electronic music, but McBride is an able and committed vocalist and the songs are all the better for his voice giving them structure and velocity alongside the beats and bleeps. And here’s the thing, Martial Canterel releases are always in limited editions that sell out fast and become insanely collectible. You know what to do…
‘Lost At Sea’ is out on Dais
