“Animus Anima” (a reference to Jung’s psychoanalytic concept) is what happens when an experiment brings together 4 musicians from different backgrounds: sax-player and composer Nicolas Ankoudinoff comes straight from jazz, Pascal Rousseau on tuba is known in contemporary circles. On guitar, the improviser and feedback freak Benoist Eil faces drummer Etienne Plumer, who is very much into the M-base Afro-American tradition (both of them play with “Rêve d’éléphant” and “Tout est joli/All is pretty”).

In 2011, for the 10th anniversary of the project, Nicolas Ankoudinoff set out to write an album for the quartet and three guests. They invited long-standing friends Bart Maris (Flat Earth Society, Moker) on trumpet, Stephan Pouguin (Rêve d’éléphant, Pantha Rei, Vivo) on percussion and Giovanni Di Domenico on Fender Rhodes.

5 years later, they are back with “Résidence sur la terre/Residence on Earth”, a work presented in seven scenes and two interludes that draw from the emotional states that nature can inspire. Seven evocative tracks (“Atmosphère atmosphère”, “Nomad’s land” and “Terre Eve”) presented with original orchestration and surprising sound textures. The tuba, guitar and sax alternate on bass. The drums and percussions open up to polyrhythms (the opening track has a groove that mixes rhythms in 4 and 11). The trumpet and tenor sax play either solo or as an ‘organ’ of sorts with the help of the tuba (“Marée Basse”).

“Animus Anima” explores sound, teasing it playfully to draw out music that is incandescent, visionary, at the limit of being troubling and dissonant but nonetheless accessible.

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