Yann Tiersen - Infinity

It would be insulting to music as an art form to suggest that every album must be immediately enjoyable in order to hold value, but nevertheless it feels as though there is something lost in translation from the imagination to the recording studio that makes Yann Tiersen’s ‘Infinity’ too oblique. Though not an unpleasant listening experience it is an alienating one that shows only sparks of the lightness and creativity that are woven seamlessly throughout the French multi-instrumentalist’s best albums. Though songs such as ‘Lights’ and ‘In Our Minds’ show flashes of familiar talent, they are surrounded by repetition and ineffective atmospherics.

It doesn’t work in the album’s favour that it is also a rather short listen, meaning it has less time to make a significant impression and allow the listener to adjust to the musicianship on display. The majority of the songs when listened to individually seem enjoyable enough, but as a full listening experience the tracks tend to blend and prove themselves to be unmemorable. In addition, the vocals that are peppered sporadically throughout are inconsistent in both their style and quality, and whilst the former may be attributed to experimentation on Tiersen’s part it is the latter that is one of the most damning aspects of the album. It’s simply too mired in experimentation to make for an enjoyable or enlightening experience.