Arthur Satàn - So Far so Good (2021) [Hi-Res]

By Martial from Total Heaven Records store (Bordeaux) :

"I’ve been waiting for this a while now. Arthur Satan is releasing a solo album on Born Bad; and that’s wonderful news. Before even listening to the record for the first time I already knew I very possibly could be surprised…
Bingo!

I’m a lucky guy, recurrently so. I’m on a constant free ride, so to speak. Working in a record shop (Total Heaven – Bordeaux) certainly does bring its daily load of torment and worry – though with great rewards to be found along the way. Like the incredible vantage point you inherit, one of the enviable privileges of the record dealer.

This was about fifteen years ago now, I clearly remember this shy though curious kid, barely eighteen, who’d come in to dig through the bins. At the time, he asks loads of questions, sometimes about rather unusual bands. Oh and he also plays in one, Polar Strong. Enraged lives, a slick single: not bad at all. The boy starts cumulating projects, almost compulsively. In the amazing myriad of all of his overlapping bands, a lot of garage rock (Hoodlum, fabulous – and that’s no exaggeration) along with some bits of pop (the Cranes Angels, somewhere between the Flaming Lips and the Danielson Family).

Then came the first single under Satàn (no J.C. yet) with the adorable “More Funny Than A Mini Horse”. At that point, I think: promising duo… Without realising I’m totally downplaying the phenomenon. From that moment on we all became the helpless witnesses to the creation of an epic fantasy, growing by leaps and bounds with the release of ten or so more albums and singles to this day. The band’s lyrical and incredibly powerful rock devours everything that comes near it, while adorning itself with the finest of elated pop. My favourite way of putting it: J.C. Satàn is QOTSA getting its ass kicked by the Black Sab of “Paranoid” while Jean-Claude Vannier’s on the lookout round the corner. It’s a baroque sonic rage, hailing any and all hallucinations. One night in June, under the spell of the band’s incantations, I swear I felt the BT59’s floor opening up below my feet onto molten lava (facts).

So, after years of resounding racket, what would you expect from an Arthur Larregle album? Getting knocked off by an overwhelming outpour? Whisky stench? Darkness? Black eyes? Tinnitus?
Well no, not really.

The key to this record is in a chest thrown down a well.
Rewind back to spring 2010 and remember “Four Naked Sons”, with those divine ‘60s folk songs recorded by Arthur. They already came across as the negatives to his multiple bands – now they clearly sound like early demos. That plus all the experience and you get today’s album.

There’s this old joke of the guy tumbling down the stairs thinking to himself, at each floor landing: “So Far So Good”. That’s where the title comes from, explains Arthur. “It perfectly sums up my musical life, my lock down and the fact that I finally dare do something on my own […] plus it does sound pretty cool.”

Personally, I think “Less is more” would have worked just as well. Less electricity, less noise, more tenderness: yes, the beast can do it. Softness and light, that’s what it’s about. Who would have thought? Then there’s also some beautiful piano… Thanks to his buddy Dorian? Nope. True to himself, Arthur does it all alone. The hefty servings of Mellotron are his, too. And what about the wonderful guitars? Same! And the refined arrangements? The heavenly vocal harmonies? Still him. Le Nain Boit du Vin – or “the dwarf drinks wine”, Arthur’s alias on social media – is full of surprises indeed.
And so is his record.

The distinctive backing choirs on “Free” are reminiscent of an encounter between the Pole Krzysztof Komeda (“Fearless Vampire Killers”, the soundtrack of “Rosemary’s Baby”) and the American collective Elephant 6 (Elf Power, Of Montreal, Neutarl Milk Hotel, Apples in Stereo, Olivia Tremor Control…).
“The Nap” is teatime: Arthur’s the host, John Fahey the guest.
“The Boy In The Frame” is the famous unreleased ballad of the album “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath”. Well, well…

“Summer” starts off like a lullaby on the metallophone and evolves into something of a Donovan song, minus the unexpected crankshaft solo.
“Love bleeds from you neck” is somewhere between acid folk song and medieval lament.

“It’s All The Same” is another surprise, with its modern mix and particularly innovative arrangements.

“Time Is Mine” might be the track most evocative of J.C. Satàn… Though actually all the tracks on “So Far So Good” hover between tradition and modernity, obscure sunshine pop, good old classics and weird experiments. Before the album’s outlandish finale, with Ween’s cosmic overture to “Boredom is Quiet”, “She’s Long Gone” will have had time to evoke Brian Wilson’s Beach Boys roaming through the English countryside looking for the perfect cottage. That particular track is a real beauty.

And in fact there’s a lot of England in the record. “She’s Hotter Than The Sun” owes just as much to T. Rex than to the ubiquitous Beatles – a band JB Born Bad makes it “a point of honour” (sic) never to listen to. He prefers sticking to his idea that Arthur’s record mostly bears the traces of “I Should Coco” by the Supergrass. That’s quite on point (plus it keeps us within the UK).

For, at last, that’s what’s so wonderful about pop music: as long as it’s made honestly and wholeheartedly, it touches very different people in the same manner. There’s something in it for everyone. It’s this universal character which makes its strength, and beauty. And that’s just what we’re talking about here.

As a reminder - and conclusion, I should add that “Arthur” happens to be the title of one of the Kinks’ greatest albums; a band I believe the author of this record holds in very high esteem."

01 - Arthur Satàn - Summer (4:01)
02 - Arthur Satàn - Free (4:14)
03 - Arthur Satàn - Love Bleeds from Your Neck (2:02)
04 - Arthur Satàn - She's Long Gone (5:40)
05 - Arthur Satàn - She's Hotter Than the Sun (3:18)
06 - Arthur Satàn - The Boy in the Frame (5:40)
07 - Arthur Satàn - It's All the Same (4:00)
08 - Arthur Satàn - Time Is Mine (4:01)
09 - Arthur Satàn - The Nap (1:34)
10 - Arthur Satàn - Boredom Is Quiet (5:16)