Hailing from Bochum, Germany, is a band named Le Mur, who have just released their newest album on May 26th, a four-track experience entitled Keep Your Fear Away From Me.
About Keep Your Fear Away From Me
Le Mur was formed in 2007 and features Matthias Gräf (guitar, organ, saxophone), Janine Ficklscherer (bass), and drummer Georgios Dosis. Keep Your Fear Away From Me is their fourth album, and it follows the path forged on earlier works but moves further into the progressive and space-psych genres. This shift should make their music more appealing to a broader audience of music fans.
The Songs
Le Mur starts the album with “The Past Will Be Perfect” on a somber and atmospheric note, reminding me of the sounds one might hear on a YouTube meditation video. Its calming effects lead into a beautiful section featuring a melodic bass and drum. The sounds and the organ underneath are decidedly psychedelic, with keyboard work that may remind people of Ray Manzarek of The Doors.
I love that the track slowly picks up, and at around six minutes in, there is a definite sense of reserved urgency, creating a vibe that is in keeping with the first half of the song but also raises things a few notches.
There have been jazzy sounds up to this point, but they haven’t been felt as strongly as when the saxophone begins its accompaniment. Le Mur delivers a spike in intensity at the end, and the jazz influences are at the forefront as they take us to the final notes of this track.
“Today is The Day/The Beauty of Now” is the shortest of the four songs, though nine and a half minutes isn’t all that short. After some wordless vocals comes another slick bass line, leading into what could be considered jazzed-up psych with desert rock vibes.
The guitar playing reminds me of a less blues-based David Gilmour, and the sparse vocal parts have Jim Morrison qualities without sounding like him. I like the buildup that occurred approximately four minutes in; the driving factor of it is excellent, as is the cinematic landscape vibe, making me think that this song could be right at home in a film that takes place during the 1960s/70s. I wasn’t overly keen on the minimalistic part that began during the seventh minute, though the stringed instrument piece after that was quite beautiful.
Everything up to this point has been delightful, and thankfully Le Mur keeps things going in that regard on “Another Life/Burning The Tree/I See You.” The first section has more of an art rock influence thanks to the fuzzy guitars and driving rhythmic elements. One of the best parts of this first section is that it’s different from the rest of the album so far, showing that Le Mur can pull off arty noise rock as well as they can with the psychedelic jazz stuff.
The saxophone reappears, and the lower register notes make me think this is a baritone sax or a tenor. Either way, it adds a great feel that is and isn’t jazzy, fitting the space rock vibes underneath before reverting to a noise rock type of sound.
Six and a half minutes in, and this is still one of the unique tracks on Keep Your Fear Away From Me, exhibiting the fact that you can’t put Le Mur into a box, that their sound is such a strange amalgamation of their influences that it defies genre tags while still being reminiscent of several genres.
Finishing up the album with an adventurous, four-part track is, in and of itself, adventurous, but Le Mur doesn’t shy away from such things, and their music is better for it. The intro of “For the Puzzles of the Future” is two minutes of synth-driven music, pulling in an 80s film sound exceptionally well, which lasts even throughout the spoken vocals.
Then it abruptly changes into a progressive rock song, and its shift is felt even more than it usually would have because of its suddenness. Then things shift again, decreasing the power and going into a section utilizing a rhythmically staccato bass line over a spacey piece that isn’t necessarily space-psych or rock.
The next shift brings in the best piano work on this record before returning to a rock-influenced part. What’s cool is that the perfect bass lines power all of these, and all’s right with the world when that is matched with distorted riffs and psych leads. The rest of this track is incredible and finishes the album perfectly.
Final Thoughts
Le Mur’s Keep Your Fear Away From Me is a wild ride from beginning to end. Not because it’s a loud and raucous affair but because of the nuanced and varied approach to songwriting and the way the band performs these songs. I mentioned above that you couldn’t put Le Mur into a box, and that’s because there needs to be a box bigger to fit their sound into. They pull in influences from such a wide and eclectic variety of genres that their sound is difficult to pin down.
As you probably already guessed, I will heavily recommend this album to anyone with ears. Fans of various styles will be able to find something to connect with, and that will keep them coming back for repeated listens.
Support Le Mur by finding them on Bandcamp, their official website, or social media (Instagram, Facebook).
This review was written by Tom Hanno, who has been writing reviews for the last 7 years but has been sharing his love of music for the majority of his life. Originally starting out at the now-defunct Chimera Magazine, he is currently contributing to Doomed and Stoned, The Sleeping Shaman, The Doom Charts, Tom’s Reviews, and The Third Eye. Read more of Tom’s reviews by checking out his Linktree.
The Third Eye 
Leave a comment