Narrow Terence - Violence With Benefits (Enkirama, 2013)

It's their third official album and in my opinion the best from this French band. The genre is difficult to pinpoint and can depend on the track. The music has a certain energy and sounds as Rock with many Balkan influences, some element of Classical music including more modern Classical, and few Chanson genre influences in the singing. It's a little bit majestic and dignified Rock but it's made with simplicity in the style.

The Balkan influences come in particular from the way to use and orchestrate two instruments types, the violin and the brass instruments. Guitars, batteries, bass and others are more Rock, Nick Cave could be evoked even if the album is quite different than any Nick Cave album.

The singing and the voice are another singular element. The voice is rather deep and varies with various tones or textures. For example it's a hoarse voice on certain tracks, vibrating on some others, or more natural but still deep on multiple tracks. The singing is mainly a mix from Rock and a bit of French Chanson, plus perhaps a bit of Cabaret but it's less obvious. The voice and the singing aren't unique but it's rare enough to be a fundamental element of the singularity of this album.

It's a great and very uncommon album, not really Rock but with a Rock spirit and mood, and some of the Rock energy. You can listen it on various streaming sites, I noticed Deezer and Spotify. Or you can preview it here but at a quality only a bit better than standard streaming, and be fair, if you like dig it, support the artists and don't forget to buy the album.

You can buy the digital at the various standard digital shops. You can also buy the CD but the Enkirama label site is still in building right now, but you could try check yourself. There's also a Narrow Terence bandcamp place but right now it's not possible to buy the digital here, and there's no information where to buy the album. Your best chance could be to try some French shops or marketplaces but I haven't found anything, myself I bought the CD in a physical shop in Paris. The CD is perhaps sold out, I only found one used at the PriceMinister French marketplace here. If you have more information please post or send an email so I could update this.