Listening to Blind Yeo’s ‘The Lemoine Point’ debut is a reminder that things may come and things may go but the art-rock dance goes on forever. Steeped in the cosmic and kosmische, folklore, freak folk and earthy pysch, the Falmouth collective deliver a soundscape which sends your mind skittering through those leftfield euro-rock reference points. From the mighty Gong, Ash Ra Temple, Magma onto Snapped Ankles, Goat and Henge, all may be aligned with Blind Yeo’s thinking but hey, this is a band generate their own bespoke energy.
Released on the essential outernational label Bongo Joe (also home to art rock allies Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp), ‘The Lemoine Point’ is one of those albums that you think you’ve got sorted but then refreshingly slips your grasp. The chugging Krautrock of opener Today/Tomorrow sets out to win over without unsettling. A rework of a previous EP track, the Neu-like thrust is infectious, propelling the song while band leader Will Greenham’s soft, relaxed tenor and Anoushka Helm’s clear vocal tones zip through some quirky conundrums (“You’re in today tomorrow/ I’m in tomorrow today”). It’s a fine intro to Blind Yeo’s refreshed sonic world.
Always a fluid collective with singer/guitarist Greenham and vocalising synthesist Helm as the catalysts, ‘The Lemoine Point’ finds the group revolving around a more settled core of players on each of the tracks. Greenham’s son Henry provides synths, Phyllida Bluemel cello, Phil Self additional guitar and Sam Pert the drums. Maybe it’s such anchorage, as well as working with an ‘outsider’, Sam Jones, as producer, which underpins Blind Yeo’s ambition on the album. It’s a set which soaks up their eclectic influences but never loses focus.
Hour Glass of the Eye blends a fizzing synth riff and earthy balafon beats in a song which ripples with plentiful DIY-Pop pep. Those afrobeat vibes also flavour the snappy Colour Pillow / Kologo, where funky guitar chops trade with thrumming Saharan blues guitar alongside Sam Pert’s big beat stomp. Elsewhere the global soundscape echoes through the album’s thunderous title track from a starting point of skittering Arabic rhythms to a level of hypnotic gnawa intensity. Spacey synths, clattering percussion and pummelling drums add to the adrenaline rush.
On ‘The Lemoine Point’ Blind Yeo also show their subtle side with a more acoustic approach. Right Side Of The Round combines finger-picked guitar and vamping synths with Helm’s sweet vocal for a drone folk moment. Handclaps and tambourines add to the devotional dance. Memory to the Soil is another mantra for the natural world, a connection which Blind Yeo explore in much of their music. “The sun keeps spinning and the worms keep digging/ the moon keeps drifting and the earth keeps giving” they sing hopefully within an atmospheric Beta Band-ish merger of a ticking drum track and electronic gamelan patterns.
Often debut albums see bands cramming every idea that they have into the grooves but Blind Yeo navigate that temptation with an assured touch. On Magnolia a Desert-bluesy, acoustic guitar roll might meet chamber pop strings but the tune maintains its flow right through to the swooning pastoral close. Perhaps the most expansive track is the quizzical Frik and Frak, a proggish construct of Tinariwen dynamics, droning violin folk and swirling guitar reverb. The song’s tempo shifts are never disruptive though, right down to the final pounding metal rock- out.
Yes Blind Yeo certainly take chances on ‘The Lemoine Point’. This is a band that you feel won’t stand still for long and it’s such individuality which makes them so lovable.
Get your copy of ‘The Lemoine Point‘ by Blind Yeo from your local rcord store or direct from Bongo Joe Records HERE
