And The Bear – This Is The Darkness I Used To Tape CD (Valvolare Records)

And The Bear is quite an interesting musical outlet, entirely operated by Alexandre Manuel, a French multi-instrumental artist who has been active on the music scene since 1998. Since his beginnings, Alexandre participated as a musician in several groups, such as Hourplug, Am I Right, and The Quiet Collective, mainly by being a vocalist or guitar player. After numerous years performing on prominent regional music festivals and publishing several extended plays with the beforementioned groups, Alexandre decided to take a step further and explore the vast universe of cinematic electronica. Then he decided to form And The Bear in 2018, which led to a series of collaborations with associates who delivered visual aesthetics to his compositions. After nearly 50 concerts, Alexandre recorded 35 numbers and selected dozen of the best ones that will later become a working material for his debut full-length. Then he worked on these compositions and shaped them into a form appropriate for the album, so This Is The Darkness I Used To Tape was born.

I encountered a lot of artists who’re basing their performances around doing soundtracks for artistic/avant-garde movies, but And The Bear unquestionably differs from the remaining portion of the scene. While the other contemporary artists are more leaning towards experimental, avant-garde, noise, ambient, drone, musique concrete performances, And The Bear explores more commercial waters with This Is The Darkness I Used To Tape. Alexandre nurtures cinematic electronica sound, decorated by several other ingredients that are unquestionably highlighting his hypnotic music. You may stumble upon some EDM, commercial electronica, industrial, synthwave, coldwave, darkwave, post-punk, experimental, cinematic ambient, and many other similar elements. Alexandre thoroughly mixed up all these ingredients into a harmonious collection of danceable, engaging, ear-appealing electronic compositions.

Alexandre calls his music indietronica, so perhaps this is the most accurate representation of And The Bear. This Is The Darkness I Used To Tape deserves a special place on the indie scene, mainly because of the outstanding quality of these numbers. However, this material explores some darker corners of experimental music when necessary. And The Bear takes the best of both worlds and offers his version of the cinematic soundtracks, which may seem unusual to some listeners until they realize the brilliance of this artist. Alexandre involves distorted and clean guitars, synthesizers, keys, sequencers, filters, beats, and many other vital elements in order to deliver profoundly detailed compositions that will appeal to a broader auditorium. Layers of lead and background vocals are added over the top, so this material can easily pass as a regular electronic material, suitable for any mood and occasion. Alexandre thought about every detail while writing, composing, recording, selecting, and producing numbers for his album.

This Is The Darkness I Used To Tape comes on a compact disc, housed in a digipack packaging. However, this material is also available on streaming services. Pick up your weapon of choice and enjoy these fine indietronica tunes. Head over to Valvolare Records for more detailed information about ordering.