REVIEW: Champ de Mars — Halloween Leaves (LP)
With decadence coming to us in the form of a sensuous melody just about anyone could fall head over heels for, “Leaves in Winter” graciously asks us to remove ourselves from any sense of worry and enter a world that is uniquely Champ de Mars’s this spring. One of the eleven gripping new songs included on the band’s deceptively titled new album Halloween Leaves, “Leaves in Winter” summarizes much of the aesthetic that Champ de Mars are holding closer than any other in this record — but it isn’t the only gem to behold. One of the most compelling elements of Halloween Leaves is its multidimensional style, which tends to bring forth a different interpretation of its message with every listening session I’ve spent with it this April.
“Benders in the Basement” and “Wedding Dresses and Fancy Watches” are a lot more conventional than “Leaves in Fall,” “Monsters in the Kitchen” or “Ghosts in the Attic Are,” but the contrast between experimental rock and pop-structured alternative familiarity is crucial to appreciating this LP’s depth. If you’ve listened to anything Champ de Mars has recorded before their most recent venture into the recording studio, you’re likely to notice that almost all of this material feels a little leaner than it might have in previous settings. They’ve gotten good at trimming up the fat, and compositionally speaking I think there’s a case to be made that this is their most mature and refined set of songs to be packaged into the same disc. There’s no arrogance, which is surprising when you consider the amount of depth that the players are bringing into the studio here.
The lyrical continuity in Halloween Leaves is provocative, to say the least, but I’m not sure if I can call this a progressive record in nature. There’s no debating whether or not Champ de Mars is talented when it comes to sticking to a specified concept when it benefits the work they’re producing, but there’s also a significant difference between the way they’re building a story here and what a straight-up progressive rock act might have done. I’m not saying they don’t have the skills to do it, but right now I think this is a band tailored more to a radio-ready format than they are anything particularly album-centric, as evidenced by the athleticism of this tracklist.
Critics have been taking note of the music Champ de Mars has been recording for a while now, and I think that Halloween Leaves has a real chance at expanding its audience in the best way possible. This band doesn’t need to consider selling out any of their core ideals as they prepare for a new era in their career; in fact, they’ve got more of a shot at superstardom staying locked in on the current trajectory they’re on than any other. Halloween Leaves isn’t a flawless LP by any means, but for what it lacks in mainstream polish it more than makes up for in rich originality which, as anyone who follows the indie rock circuit is aware of by now, is a treasure of an attribute if there ever was one.
Colin Jordan
