This is one beguiling record.  It starts with opera and ends with poetry, and in the end, only silence remains.  The opening soprano segment makes an immediate statement: this is not conventional music.  By the middle of the set, one may forget this fact, but on “Tempête” it returns with a vengeance.

The storied career of Christine Ott provides clues to understanding her approach.  She’s been part of Yann Tiersen’s band, collaborated with Radiohead, worked alongside Oiseaux-Tempête, and is currently opening for Tindersticks.  She’s also one of the few people in the world who can be considered an expert on the Ondes Martenot, a strange keyboard invented in 1928, which can sound like anything from a theremin to a screech of strings.  For most of the album she holds back on this instrument, but sneaks it in, bit by bit, until it takes over the sound field.  Those early moments…