It’s hard not to think that Elliott Armen is Yann Tiersen’s son, but the filiation is not musical, as his style is far removed from that of his father. He began composing on guitar and piano in his teens. After secondary school, with his guitar and ukulele, he set off for two years across Europe, travelling from farm to farm where he learned to cultivate the land and took the opportunity to record his first songs. When it came to recording his second album, he chose the peace and quiet of a studio on the Isle of Lewis. To get there he walked the last 200 kilometres, a detail that gives us a better understanding of this record. He takes us into a world of subtlety and gentleness with an underlying power, like when we are overwhelmed by the splendour of a landscape, the elements are there and the emotion wells up in us without the need to intellectualise, his voice being a big part of it. His music oscillates between another Elliott (Smith) and Sufjan Stevens, and sometimes there’s a hint of Sigur Ròs, but without the flights of fancy. Put yourself in a quiet, solitary place and you’ll be transported by this record of penetrating beauty.
Elliott Armen ” Turbulence ”
