OUW025 : Charles-Eric Charrier / Un

 

Cover art by Charles-Eric Charrier

OUW025 : Charles-Eric Charrier / Un

Charles-Eric Charrier is one of those musicians whose career is difficult to summarize in a few lines, so full of curves, digressions, great leaps, uncertainties, and boldness does it appear.
M.A.N, Charles C. Oldman, Oldman are the remains of the past, the successive stages of a process of metamorphosis, of transformation; today he releases these albums under his own name, a sign that a new stage has been reached. Has the circle come full circle? No, the journey doesn't seem to be over…

 
From Yan Kouton: 'His new album, ‘Un,’ is a breathtaking quest for a sound of exceptional density. Far removed, so very far now, from the technological arsenal, it's closer to a music of origins, or more precisely, to a music closest to its relationship with humanity. Captured by legendary, timeless microphones, these compositions are nonetheless startlingly modern, infused with an almost free-form energy, bordering on experimental hip hop and haunting blues. Charles-Eric Charrier projects his poetry with an absolutely stunning precision, power, and sensitivity. In doing so, he explodes the spoken word genre, propelling it to rarely reached heights.

This music is much more than just music. It carries indefinable emotions, by turns terrifying and hypnotic. Incredibly present, it settles in all its apparent simplicity, its rigor, and, in the same movement, its sonic accidents.
So many escapes into an inner world that we so desperately try to keep at bay to avoid suffering. “UN” offers no escape. It brutally confronts us with the unfathomable. There is something viscerally shamanic in these songs, which oscillate between darkness, urban rationality, and the total mystery of nature—in the broadest sense—which acts as an irresistible call.'
 

Either a unique self musically and with his texts or at times influenced by a variety of great composers, 'Un' is a collection of pieces that tell who Charles-Eric is today through 17 intense pieces.
 
Even if you don't speak French, you will not stay insensitive to his voice and music.
Have a listen!

The album is in 4 parts, A and B entirely composed by Charle-Eric, and C and D composed with collaborators or on their ideas and arranged by Charles-Eric.

Charles-Eric has been collaborating and touring with a lot of bands:
Sidi Touré « Koïma » (Thrill Jockey, soon), Lena & The Floating Root Orchestra (Plush, 2008), Rob Mazurek, The Clogs, Rhys Chatham, Jérôme Paressant « Under the House » (Oceanik Creations, 2009)…and more…

He has also published a lot of books.

Deux Violons:

Sais-tu:

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Jérôme Cousin at Studio Vetter.

Cover design by Smith Smith

Painting by Charles-Eric Charrier

Digital release on the 5th of December 2025.

Track listing:

A1. Petit &… ( Charrier)

Percussions, voix, basse : Charles-Eric Charrier

A2. Entre tes cuisses (Charrier)

Piano : Jérôme Cousin

Violon : Dominique Queffélec

Alto : Jean-Charles Queffélec

Electronique, piano, voix : Charles-Eric Charrier

A3. Call Ray (Charrier)

Electronique, piano, voix : Charles-Eric Charrier

A4. Interlude (Charrier)

Electronique, basse : Charles-Eric Charrier

A5. War Nigaud (Charrier)

Piano : Jérôme Cousin

Violon : Dominique Queffélec

Alto : Jean-Charles Queffélec

Percussions, électronique, basse, voix : Charles-Eric Charrier

B1. Deux violons (Charrier)

Piano : Jérôme Cousin

Violon : Dominique Queffélec

Alto : Jean-Charles Queffélec

Electronique, piano, voix : Charles-Eric Charrier

B2. 8 (Charrier)

Voix : Béatrice Temple

Piano : Jérôme Cousin

Voix, basse, électronique, kalimba : Charles-Eric Charrier

B3. Sais-tu ? (Charrier)

Guitares : Laurent Komlanvi Bel

Piano, percussions, électronique, basse, voix : Charles-Eric Charrier

B4. Clos (Bel, Charrier, Cousin)

Piano : Jérôme Cousin

Batterie, percussions, guitars: Laurent Komlanvi Bel

Basse : Charles-Eric Charrier

C1. Sui Généris (Temple Gilda)

Piano : Gilda Temple

C2. Tu Flotte Frère (Charrier/Richard)

Electronique : Nicolas « Covalesky » Richard

Basse, piano, voix : Charles-Eric Charrier

C3. Self (Charrier/Richard)

Electronique : Nicolas « Covalesky » Richard

Piano, voix : Charles-Eric Charrier

C4. Walt is dead (Charrier/Temple Béatrice)

Voix & orchestration : Béatrice Temple

Piano, voix : Charles-Eric Charrier

D1. Mordu (Temple Béatrice)

Voix : Béatrice Temple

Guitare : Jérôme Cousin

Basse : Charles-Eric Charrier

D2. Soleil Fantôme (Charrier/Bel)

Voix : Charles-Eric Charrier

D3. Is this a dream? (Bel)

Basse, percussions, guitares : Laurent Komlanvi Bel

Clavier : Jérôme Cousin

Piano : Charles-Eric Charrier

D4. & (Charrier/Temple Gilda)

Piano, orgue & orchestration : Gilda Temple

Voix : Charles-Eric Charrier

Itunes, Apple Music, Deezer, etc.:

https://bfan.link/un-1

And on Bandcamp: