The French trans artist Anotine Nouel, also known as Anotyne, knows her way around an unconventional and timeless pop song that you won’t soon forget, and here we’re treated to six very rich and unclassifiable tracks on this debut solo album that was self recorded and mixed in her own Sound Love Studio.
“Les Améthystes Bleues” (Blue Amethysts) gets the listen off to a very dreamy start, where mesmerizing guitar, light percussion and hazy vocals are quite soft in the cultured folk presence. “Ton Mirage” (Your Mirage) follows, and flows with a very intimate and pretty climate of beauty, and “Un Vrai Amour” (A True Love) continues with a hypnotic delivery of stirring atmosphere that carries an almost spiritual quality.
The second half of the listen leads with the retro sounds of the quirky yet inviting “Dors Pour Toujours” (Sleep Forever), where a radiating, off kilter demeanor is quite gripping, while “Le Pouvoir” (The Power) is closer to traditional folk music, as the poetic singing is met with a glowing buzzing of ambience and mystery.
The final track, “Le Miroir Du Temps” (The Mirror Of Time), is a bit darker in scope, where plenty of ambience surrounds the cinematic swells of tension and eloquence.
Self-described as “ultra emo French songs,” this album follows a period when Anotyne was also half of Train Fantome with Lise Dua, and played in Beauty Boule de Crystal, and Bernadette 3. Currently, she plays guitar in Satellite Jockey. This venture on her own is equally creative and articulate as any of her past work, and Anotyne’s skills in production, engineering and mastering certainly add much to the listening experience.
The title of the album translates to “Who I Aspire To Be,” and there’s little doubt this is a talent who is on a clear path to self-actualization.
