Don Aman: Open

photo: Moris Basson

French indie rock trio Don Aman showed a special kind of ecleticism on their Monsterlock album in 2020, mixing genres and laughing at so-called barriers or people going "that's never going to work". Fast forward to 2024 and the long-awaited follow-up is finally there. They called it Open for a reason, because once again anything goes. Listeners are treated to a rollercoaster ride, albeit taking it litte slower than they did before.

Latching onto a theme, a groove or a lick and see how far it will go, seems to be their modus operandi to get a track off the ground. Over time it changes a bit, sometimes even quite drastically, in ways that will be applauded by jazz and avant-garde fans. It is a kaleisdocope with dazzling sound effects.

Don Aman: Monsterlock

photo: Francesca Raimondo & Tom Clément

French indie rock trio Don Aman are like kids in a candy store, picking up anything that looks interesting. At first their new album Monsterlock might come off as a mishmash of genres, but it turns out once again that the old of adage that "the whole is greater than the sum of the parts" does apply.

Drones, ambient, blues, post-rock and even a bit of old school progressive rock were stitched together to a tapestry of sounds. Sparse passages make way for complex structures, acoustic guitar gets superseded by a distorted electric, with singer Francis as a pied-piper leading the way. Monsterlock is a like a arthouse movie, non-linear but it all fits somehow. They will have zero impact on the mainstream market, but the very vocal minority of connoisseurs will sing their praises for years to come.