Othila from France left a good impression on me with their previous releases on Divine Comedy Records. Three years after their 10? Yula, they’re back with a new album. Continents comes in an elegant thin digipack, with lovely photos of mysterious nature, as before an important theme in their ritual ambient music.
Printed inside is an old text about an Indian chief, who says that it is not possible to sell his land, because how can one buy the sky, the water or the land? ‘Every part of this earth is sacred to my people.’
The album builds up a lot of atmosphere, with each track having a slightly different colour and texture, taking you around the globe. Percussion, strange chants and voices in the background, lots of organic ‘ethnic’ sounds, deep drones are just some of the building elements. A wonderful track is ‘Continent… Des Lumières’, with fine neoclassical sounds and a surprising trumpet part. Also nice is the filmic and almost jazzy ‘Continent… De Découvertes’. In between some denser ritual percussive pieces can be found. After various listening turns, Continents has convinced me as a rich listening experience which is a nice evolution from Othila’s previous works.
