Didier Recloux – Enotis (Wedding Song) [Single Review]

The poignant and talented composer Didier Recloux is back with another serene and lush composition to enthrall your ears. His debut album, ‘Monsieur Linh and His Child’ was released not too long ago and garnered immense praise and admiration from me. The link to the review is here. For those of you who may not have heard of him before, you truly have to brace yourself for a barrage of emotions when you perceive his music.

He is known for composing music that puts an emphasis on melodies, self-described as the concept of something ‘portable’ when it comes to music- a feeling that one can take away from a film, transporting the same exact emotions back to you in an auditory form. His aspiration with his art is described with the intent to touch and move people, the way that he has been moved by the music he loves. Similarly, you can truly feel this intent without even reading or referring to that description. He has a wonderful ability to finetune music to the point where you know your heartstrings are oscillating at the same frequency as a played orchestral string.

A Belgian-born composer based in London, Didier Recloux can trace his passion for music to his childhood. He was engulfed in music, coming from a musical family that introduced him to a wide range of music. A figure that he cites tantamount to the broadening of the horizons of his musical knowledge is his Polish grandmother. He then enrolled at a local music academy to study guitar, drums, piano, singing as well as composition at the age of six. He then went on to study counterpoint, music for film and television through Berklee, and gained an immense amount of knowledge about orchestration in New York through Steven Scott Smalley as well as knowledge about music production through IMW London.

It is also notably interesting that he started his musical endeavors playing in bands and songwriting in a pop/rock style. He is influenced by a multitude of genres: Prog rock, heavy metal, pop, electronic, classical music, film compositions as well as world music. In that sense, his expertise in music is pretty much tied to the vast expanse of his influences and his training: extensive, and comprehensive.

In today’s review, we will analyse his new single titled ‘Enotis (Wedding Song)’. Didier composed and orchestrated this track, and it was particularly written for a strings quintet. In this particular recording, Brookspeare Music plays the instruments. This track definitely has a tinge of sentimentalism in it, as it was composed for his wedding to his wonderful and talented wife Apostolia.

We at Music Review World got exclusive access to listen to Enotis and it will be available on the 9th of July 24 on Didier website

The song starts out tender and striking, the initial instrumentation consisting of a steady note before being auditorily wrapped with extra melodies and harmony. In very typical Recloux-style, the first melodic sequence serves as a recurring motif throughout the rest of the song, with more development for musical variability and compositional consistency. This song to me is like a wonderful flower with many layers, waiting to be unravelled as the flower opens to reveal its multi-layer of petals.

The song gives off the feel of melancholy and determination in the beginning, but it fades out into a sequence that oscillates- and what I gather from this, is a feeling of the triumphs and lows of a relationship. It doesn’t break, and it doesn’t fade, but these experiences coalesce to form a beautiful tapestry- just like the segments of this particular composition.

Didier is never afraid to make interesting choices with his arrangements, as the segment in 1:20 shows a different harmonic and melodic direction, but it still fits within the song.

I can’t lie, I was almost brought to tears throughout this song. Even though it is merely performed by a strings quintet, and there aren’t a complete variety of instruments, the various contrapuntal melodies add a distinct complexity that elevates the emotional capacity of the soundscape. Just as the concept of the ‘portable sound’, perhaps I am once again experiencing its magic.

The composition merges resolution, complexity, heartfeltness, authenticity as well as depth all in one.

From a technical perspective, the track is also extremely well-mastered. The timbre of the instruments can truly be felt in this recording, and none of the segments sound like they had not been given the time to shine.

As I predicted, this track did tug on my heartstrings… all while the strings continued to go on. Didier Recloux, once again, proves why he is extremely adept at his niche of composition. I highly recommend this recording. It has the capacity to transcend anyone’s genre-bias and preference, the emotions are as raw and universal as it can be. If a piece of music has you rave the way that I have, it certainly is competent.

Rating/Outstanding – ‘Enotis’ is a wonderful composition from Didier Recloux that has extreme sentimental value, and almost brought me to tears. He once again displays his expertise in his particular niche of composition when it comes to classical music. This recording is instrumentally simpler than his previous release, but still manages to shine in complexity- the mark of a true artist.

[We rank singles, EPs, and albums on a scale of Poor, Mediocre, Good, Excellent, and Outstanding]

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