Music Review // Thelonius Garcia "Marche Nocturne"

https://theloniusgarcia.bandcamp.com/album/marche-nocturne

While it could be fair to say that this album by Thelonius Garcia feels like it is strongly piano-based, the idea that it has only pianos on here is simply not true.  If I was going to estimate how much of these songs were just pianos and not other sounds, I'd say maybe 92% of this album is piano-based but there are those other sounds you have to be on the look out for while listening.  It's not really until "Gould", which is the third song in, that I hear these sounds which might not be a piano, but then again they might be.

As you dive deeper into the songs, "Je veux vivre avec toi pr​è​s de la rivi​è​re" is the first to have this electronic sound added in with the piano, where it feels like there are these beeps and whispers coming from inside of a spaceship, and then a voice begins to speak in poetry.  "Incantare" also has singing, if only the oh's and ah's, and it ends with what feels like an exhale, taking us out of that comfort zone of being a piano-only based album.

Once you are aware that these other sounds will be heard, it will allow you to more fully focus on the piano keys being played throughout and how they affect what you are hearing.  At times, the higher pitched notes can feel upbeat, as if someone is dancing around at the ballet.  But when the notes take on more bass and become deeper, the mood can become more serious and even darker.  There are songs where these two styles contrast and that's one of the most interesting aspects of these songs, as it can feel like a battle going on within ourselves.

What I like most about "Marche Nocturne" is that the split in the music is really left to be open to how you're feeling at the time of listening.  If you're hearing this and in your head you're imagining something more dramatic, like a village burning to the ground, then it's reflective of your current mood.  You could just as easily be seeing a flower growing from the concrete.  This really is a matter of whether you see the glass as half empty or half full and so different listening times can equal different listening experiences.  Your mood really is what comes out most while listening to these songs.