Laudanum is the electronic project of Matthieu Malon from Orléans, who makes French rock under his own name. The project has been dormant for over a decade. To our delight, he has rewired the machines and released the first volume of a trilogy in September 2023 with ‘As Black As My Heart’. This was followed by ‘As Red As Your Lips’ in November and finally ‘As Blue As My Veins’ in January. Although these three records are all different, there’s a strong family resemblance, all featuring collaborations, particularly on lyrics and vocals. The sound is close to Down Tempo or tortured Trip Hop. The second is more pop, leaving the first slightly fuller of dark, haunting power. The last is a good synthesis of the other two. By having the same mastermind, calling on multiple featurings, this trilogy manages to be uniform, both in sound and artistic quality, while being varied enough to remain attractive and playful.
