Daniel Largent

(Album – Permafrost 2019)

Permafrost is the glacial sedimentary plate on which houses in Alaska and Siberia are built. As everyone knows, this space is slowly melting for the first time in 11,000 years.

The change in the global climate is a reality that Daniel Largent understands at all times in his many travels. Acting for the planet, doing his part, like the hummingbird of the fable, each with his means, to change mentalities: this is the main driving force behind the musical creation of this extraordinary composer. Daniel Largent has played with many musicians and has developed a solid musical knowledge that has allowed him to devote himself to the art of composition.

It is in the cocoon of his Parisian and then Norman home-studio that he throws the notes on paper. Supported by his musician friends, and of course by his brother Jaco Largent, percussionist, the artist spent 6 years developing this PERMAFROST album. Each title has been composed according to the subjects that have as their unique theme LIFE on our EARTH PLANET. Yasmin Shah and Andy Chase, two American singer-writers, wrote texts closely related to the subjects imposed by Daniel Largent. 

music review

The artist composed each instrumental piece and then played each instrument: drums, bass, guitar, keyboard….. without forgetting the choirs.  He then surrounded himself with other musicians, carefully chosen, to enrich his sounds.

He then mixed the album, assisted by two different sound engineers, Christophe Sarlin and Nicolas Djemane: by this choice he wanted to obtain contrasting sound colours. In this album, we can distinguish two states of mind: the first, contemplative, as when admiring a landscape. An atmosphere of mild rain that forces you to take cover and accept to wait until the elements allow you to resume your activities.

In “SOW MAN SOW”, Daniel Largent composes music as a rebirth to Life, after having suffered a huge descent into hell. The love of others, of life, was his driving force. And then music, which is, for him, as important as breathing: in collaboration with Andy, they developed the imaginary story of a planet emptied of its inhabitants, and which, after centuries spent in the universe, would return and discover a place where the seeds that will sprout on the earth and make Life be reborn.

The composer makes the link between his life and this rebirth, a little as if he himself had found the key to germination that allowed him to regain a taste for Life.  “ICEBERG TEARS” reflects a period when the artist feels as if he is sinking underwater, as if his inner icebergs were colliding. He has the feeling of sinking into a dark and icy universe, without the love of a being who would share his feelings.

music review

The text refers to two icebergs symbolizing a man and a woman. The latter slowly melts under the sorry gaze of the man who witnessed this shipwreck, totally powerless to stop the phenomenon. He finds himself completely alone, very distressed by what he has just been through.

The second state is the reflection of the swarming Everyday Life, like a constant struggle: in the song “Babylon to Jerusalem”, we hear this violence that interferes in the moments of Life, tinged with contradictory energies and political thoughts that clash. Daniel Largent illustrates his vision with the metaphor of an erupting volcano and human-induced wars. 

The Earth explodes.
Humans explode.  
This has been the order of the day, inexorably, since the dawn of time. 

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Music: Daniel Largent
Drummer/ bass/ guitar/ synthesizer/ piano/ cello/ choir: Daniel Largent
Lyrics: Yasmin Shah & Andy Chase
Sound Engineers: Christophe Sarlin and Nicolas Djemane
Percussions : Jaco Largent 
Flute: Xavier Cobo
Guitars: Laurent Duval, Antoine Delecroix, Fabien Mornet, David Playe, Eric Sauviat & Patrice Meyer. 
Cello: Olivier Soubeyran 
Piano: Patrick Morgenthaler 
Photo: Alice Fave
Acknowledgements: Daniel Largent warmly thanks Antoine Crespin and Pierre Pejoine for their support and precious help.

 

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