Autobiographical?
Three years after the EP Nightfallthis first album recorded between Brittany and Liège affirms all of Aucklane’s ambitions. Performed in the language of the Arctic Monkeys, the eleven tracks are cemented in the chorus/verse format. The arrangements favor chiaroscuro nuances as illustrated in particular by the ballad “Suzanne” or the nervous “Midnight Girl”. From the cavernous bass on the intro song “Hard To Get” to the refined piano/vocals of “Winter” which closes the record, we feel that there has been a lot of work on the sound material with a mixing right to the face enhancing the vocal timbre of Charlotte Maquet, somewhere between PJ Harvey and Shirley Manson from Garbage. The title of the album (Good girl, bad seed) provides, for its part, other clues. Aucklandne explores all of human complexity here. Several songs (“Shiver”, “Get Yourself A Dream”, “The Night Is Young”) have the theme of lack of self-confidence. Autobiographical? “Yes and noshe replies. To accept myself as I am, I had to face my fears, my doubts and my demons. It was a long job. Aucklandne allowed me to push the sliders all the way and realize that I wasn’t the only one going through this.“
Climax of this album with nocturnal atmospheres, “Berlin”, new single with poppy accents, was written in the reunited city where she isolated herself for a month. “More than a dream, it was a fantasy of abandoning everything, leaving without looking back and settling in a place where I knew no one. This song relates this experience which allowed me to put a lot of things into perspective.” Charlotte returned. Soothed and pumped up.
25/1, Reflektor, Liège.
Good Girl/Bad Seed, Autoprod.
