Photo: Tim van Veen

One of the many extraordinary performances that swept us away at Le Guess Who? last year was that of French outfit Oiseaux-Tempête, playing on Friday November 8th at TivoliVredenburg’s Ronda. Two years on from their first foray into the festival, the duo of multi-instrumentalists Frédéric D. Oberland and Stéphane Pigneul returned to Utrecht with a new album under their belts, Somewhere From Invisible, and an expanded line-up featuring the musicians involved in the album, including longtime collaborators Jean-Michel Pirès (Bruit Noir), Mondkopf and G.W.Sok (The Ex), as well as special guests Jessica Moss (Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band) on electric violin and Radwan Ghazi Moumneh of Jerusalem in My Heart on buzuk and modular synths. Mighty and majestic, powerful and gripping, they stood at a crossroads of light and darkness, deftly traversing a sonic terrain that stands as a powerful testament to the range of emotion they can grasp. Drawing from their improvisational energy and disparate genres from post-rock and free-jazz to Arabic music and electronica, they find compelling beauty underneath the places of turmoil in which their music is anchored. For those unable to experience this poignant and intense performance, or eager to relive it, Le Guess Who? has unveiled the full audio recordings of the Oiseaux-Tempête & Friends’ performance at the festival, recorded and mixed by Marc Broer and Philip ten Brink. Immerse yourself in it.