As I confront the paradoxical connotations of a phrase seemingly coined by a publicist, I realize the explanation just has to be tongue-in-cheek; Anjou aren’t an “ambient power duo” at all.
It’s actually quite the opposite, in fact: everything that I’ve heard from the duo so far suggests that the music of former Labradford members Mark Nelson and Robert Donne results from a deliberate eschewing of power, whereby the sounds get about as gentle as possible without heading into established microsound territory (territory which is populated by Richard Chartier almost exclusively). But when it comes to ambient music that’s noticeably less (read: “more”) minimal than some of the heavyweights of this particular atmospheric genre, Anjou have carved out their own unique brand of subtle, one that mostly makes fans kinda… suddenly want to… just do nothing all. And even if their self-titled debut (which came out on Kranky in 2014) perhaps retained a dollop of their former band’s post-rock inclinations, Anjou’s sophomore effort, Epithymia, promises to err even more on the quieter side.
The new album is out March 24 (once again on the label the tends to specialize in this stuff, Kranky), and although you can’t pre-order it yet, you can totally check out the tracks “Soucouyant” and “Glamr” down below, followed by dates with High Plains. (Also, FYI: there may be an attempt to sway via subliminal messaging here. “Epithymia” apparently means “strong desire” in the original Greek, so just attribute it to unnatural forces if you order, like, two-dozen copies without conscious forethought when an online ordering link does materialize.)
Anjou & High Plains tour dates:
05.17.17 - Minneapolis, MN - Ice House
05.18.17 - Madison, WI - Gates of Heaven
05.19.17 - Milwaukee, WI - ACME records
05.20.17 - Chicago, IL - Constellation
05.22.17 - New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge
Epithymia tracklisting:
01. Culicinae
02. Greater Grand Crossing
03. Soucouyant
04. An Empty Bank
05. Glamr
06. Georgia