Flavours of early science-fiction inspired the cover art of Sylvain Rifflet’s new album, Mechanics. A metallic jumble of astronomical rings with a character in a red coat – a deliberately vintage being from a future world – illustrates a musical galaxy made up of wood and metal instruments, musical boxes and home-made items. Here, music is conceived of as utopia, a metaphorical vision of an imagined future.

“A modern album, puzzling and fascinating”, “unusual and wonderful”, “puzzling and hypnotic”, “a breath-taking inventive ode, with pure melodies and fertile repetitions”, “a totally hypnotic music”, “an impressive work, to be paced infinitely” – just a few of the countless enthusiastic statements from the numerous reviews praising the album. Sylvain Rifflet crafts a rock/jazz machine far from the world of industrial noise and leads this electro-acoustic combo as a master of a mechanism resplendent with precise timings and interwoven strengths. Addictive sound waves wash through a timeless moment when “all opposites can co-exist in harmony”.

Sylvain Rifflet has called on musical influences in building his new album, notably Steve Reich, Moondog, Philip Glass or Terry Riley. He has also used the hybrid sound of his fellow musicians with their particular instrumentation: Benjamin Flament’s percussion mixed with Joce Mienniel’s kalimba and flute, underpinned by Philippe Gordiani’s electric guitar. Here he creates an atmosphere dream-like and disconcerting, there one more chiseled and post-rocking; singular illusions in sound onto which his clarinet or his saxophone graft his personal note, now lyrical, now rhythmic and percussive.

Joce Mienniel carries the melodies in a perfect partnership with Sylvain. He is both a fine tunesmith with elegant phrasing and a musician able to produce singular sounds and contribute rhythmic elements based on breathing, key sounds or extended technique; an expert and cherished collaborator in the creative process. Philippe Gordiani has a full guitar sound, with solid riffs and undulating melodies. He can create atmosphere, play rock and produce sound effects and is an eclectic musician, playing electro-acoustic or improvising from scratch. Along with Benjamin Flament, he gives the rhythm section its essential strength. Benjamin is a peerless percussionist, an inventor of metal instruments, a talented improviser and dedicated accompanist. He creates the group’s sound environment with his special resonance, both garage and industrial, and rhythmic and melodic elements.