ELE YPSIS – Quintet No 1 – Tik Tak Review

What does ELE YPSIS sound like?

Chamber music being sucked into a black hole.

The review of ‘Quintet No 1 – Tik Tak’ by ELE YPSIS

Probably explaining more about how my brain works than anything else, I was drawn to ELE YPSIS because the band (duo) title made me chuckle at how good a full name breaking up the word eleypsis was. After spending a while thinking of other shapes where this works well (Iso Celes was my personal favourite), I then actually listened to the music of Laure Leprunénec and Stélian Derenne. ‘Tik Tak’ is a playful and expressive exploration of time, seen through the lens of a string quintet and a piano.

The album has eight movements, although they are titled as “I” and “I #A”, then “II” and “II #B’. This is intentional as the pairs of tracks share a relationship and bond. The first track contains a short one-minute classical quintet and piano movement that is underscored with a metronomic beat. These tracks are beautifully written and quite playful at times, with their uplifting spirit. The second track in the pairing then deconstructs the track into a totally different genre, stretching it out and manipulating it in a way to transform it into something totally abstract. ELE YPSIS say this album is an artistic comment on how we waste time, but thankfully, this album is not an example of that.

Whereas ‘I’ is a pizzicato skip in the park, ‘I #A’ turns into a skittish dance track. Chopping up the piano motif and then spinning it into clever dance chord patterns, with electronic beats, synth basslines and chopped up strings is inspired. You can hear remnants of the original, but it’s often reversed, out of place, or skipping back and forth. Even the metronome can’t keep to the beat. ‘II’ is a bit more dramatic with elements of shuddering strings that slowly take over a cascade of piano notes. ‘II #B’ plays with similar tricks, adding in time-warped vocals from Laure, and shimmering deconstructed piano riffs that Hauschka would be proud of. Slowly, over its six minutes, a lethargic industrial/trip-hop beat kicks in as time and sound itself become a jumbled haze. By the time the track finishes, it is shifting beats per minute like a cassette catching on a hook.

ELE YPSIS moves into regal chamber waltz territory for ‘III’. The waltz turns into a gothic chipmunk opera for ‘III #C’ at times as it crosses over between heavy cinematic goth waltz territory to something more electronic. The song uses minimalistic beats and atmospheric air effects alongside tiny crank noises. It reminds me of wind-up kinetic toys like ballerina boxes being used in a campy horror movie. The vocals are overtly ghoulish, but as everything is so cheesily Halloween, it oddly works. This leads us to the should-be-a-Tim-Burton-score ‘IV’. The percussive use of the strings and piano guts is a quirky feast for the ears. It’s delightfully off-kilter. This leads us to the dramatic conclusion of the album with ‘IV #D’. What I love about this track is that it plays with the passage of time from both ends. Parts of the track collapse at the speed of light, only for other sections to let a solitary gong ring out. Moving between these, ELE YPSIS brings all kinds of warped sounds, beats, and effect-drenched chamber music. It’s the best representation of the duo’s vision, even if it is the most experimental piece on the record.

This isn’t an album for the faint-hearted. You need to enjoy music that is being reconstructed in a way that challenges your brain and perceptions of time and structure. Expect moments of chaos, beauty, drama, and serendipity throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed the structure of ‘Tik Tak’ and the pairs of tracks that go together. A concept album that works in showcasing its concept? Well, I never…

Recommended track: Mouvement IV #D

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