Djiin – Meandering Soul

Get ready to explore the depths of the tortured mind with “Meandering Soul”. This spiritual journey is brought to you by the French band Djiin and it’s their third full-length album. Some of the figures and landscapes we’re about to discover can be seen on the beautiful cover art done by Flobath.

The first track, ‘Black Circus’, marks the beginning of this soul exploration. It starts slowly, brooding, creating a feeling of isolation with the muted drums, the deep bass and the eerie sounds. Although the soundscape feels empty and spacious, some kind of presence could be sensed there. “Black circus on”, she proclaims, and suddenly the coven gathers up, dancing lively in circles!

When the vocals first hit, let me tell you, I was so captivated by them. There’s something so enchanting in Chloé Panhaleux’s voice – it’s rich, raspy and wide-ranged. At certain moments during the album for some reason Alison Mosshart popped up in my mind, I was specifically reminded of The Dead Weather’s ‘I Feel Love (Every Million Miles)’.

Djiin – Black Circus (click here if the video doesn’t play)

Next up comes ‘The Void’. At first the track keeps this slow psychedelic pace, until it reaches that incredible hypnotic trance, which is broken by what feels like a breakout of pure agony. The agony of losing your mind. A truly beautiful part, it’s even more magical to see the band in action during that moment, feeling every note they produce flowing through their bodies:

Using sludgy riffs, ‘Red desert’ creates that rather minimalistic environment which progressively fills up as the song progresses. It really brings the feeling of that slow, burning walk of shame through the desert described in thelyrics.

Djiin – The Void (click here if the video doesn’t play)

After meeting with the obsessive, toxic “love” in ‘Warmth of death’, the next scenery in front of us is presented in ‘White valley’. I really liked this one, we get a lot of that lovely 70’s inspired guitar work during the album, but the fuzzy riff here won me over from the first listen.

One great transition and a short creepy German intro later, we reach the electrifying ‘Waxdoll’. Here we come to the realization that this journey was all inside a girl’s head, invisible to everyone in her surrounding. Nobody seems to see the everchanging scenery, the challenges, the monsters, nobody seems to care. The album comes full circle with the outro, perhaps indicating a constantly repeating cycle.

Living with any sort of mental issues can feel like a battle for your own sanity. A confusing, reality-bending inner battle that only the one suffering can see. The emptiness, confusion, guilt and pain I find really well depicted, both metaphorically and sonically. It resonated with me to an uncomfortably personal level.

In my eyes “Meandering soul” is a rare gem – surprisingly diverse, yet very coherent and well put together. Regardless whether you consider yourself a troubled lost soul or not, I recommend checking it out.

Tracklist:

1. Black Circus
2. The Void
3. Red Desert
4. Warmth of Death
5. White Valley
6. Waxdoll