Sarrazine is another new signing of Prikosnovénie. Sarrazine is a theatrical, androgynous character. A trademark of the music is the typical high voice of Francois testory, who is both a tenor and a counter tenor. he is a former dancer and actor, and now sings in operas and cabarets. On this record he is surrounded by a great deal of musicians: KBB, José Barinaga, Lys, Wild Shores, Mimetic, Def, Sigmoon, Stocha, Negative Stencil and Phil Von. Each song has a different collaborator, and thus also its own characteristics.
As you can expect the music is a little bizarre and eclectic. From ambient to trip hop, from medieval to electro-tribal trance. The listener is taken on a trip to various periods and regions. Arabic, Celtic and Andalusian music is seemingly without much effort fused with contemporary electronica or avantgarde classical music. On top of which you hear the high, dramatic voice of Testory. Some songs remind of Dead Can Dance, others of Coil, Marc Almond or Von Magnet. My favourite one is perhaps the ritual, hypnotizing ‘Mirzo’, to which Lys contributes. “Sarrazine” is a very rich album, which will take some time to get accustomed to, because of its diversity and original elements. Perhaps not every song interests me to the same degree, but in any case the album never becomes boring.
