- Matthieu La Berre is not some fresh-faced newcomer eager to recreate or rebirth an old sound, but the way he combines hazy and warm IDM with modern indie touchstones might fool you. You can practically pick out little bits here and there; the falsetto vocal on "Sedative" bears resemblance to Junior Boys' Jeremy Greenspan and the childlike backing vocals on "Demure" are pure Animal Collective.
Reducing Lyre to a set of (ostensible) influences, however, is missing the point. Released on the always-expanding Planet Mu, it's an intriguing and satisfying debut that's beautiful enough to overcome its few flaws. Three fairly straightforward vocal tracks and three less structured tunes are on offer here, and when Vezelay works in that latter category he stands out the most. "Archetype" plays with hip-hop tropes, filling the slow-motion boom-bap drums full of air, while the more aggressive "Homeboy" does the same by sawing off a vocal sample so that its angular repetitions feel like lashings compared to the stoned gentleness he espouses elsewhere on the EP. On the closer "Coma" Vezelay presents lazily plucked guitar strings washing over in echo-drenched waves, Berre's touching vocal hovering above it all. It's a nice meeting point between his indie rock-leaning vocal material and Mu-friendly pastoral pop, and his clever understanding of electronics and intricate sound design helps to explain why Lyre ended up on a label like Planet Mu.
Tracklist A1 Sedative
A2 Demure
A3 Archetype
B1 Lyre
B2 Homeboy
B3 Coma