Éponyme Phil Reptil 2023 CD PW1010

Éponyme, a trailblazing album from a modern-day troubadour.

On the fringes of all formats and musical schools of thought, the composer-producer-performer Phil Reptil has been developing his many-faceted skill set for over thirty years. Decidedly underground, cavalierly free, he is a true inventor. His virtuoso alchemy draws on all musical genres. He brilliantly delves into the language of rock, psychedelic pop, techno, free punk, jazz, proto-metal...
He moves with ease in and out of all these different aesthetics. Moreover, his instrumental mastery, his impeccable knowledge of production tools and his extraordinary natural inspiration have forged him an identity that has aroused the interest and respect of foremost contemporary musicians.
He is a prolific composer, a genuine researcher. Witness, over the years, his collaborations with Tania Maria, Carolyn Carlson, Andy Emler, Nosfell, Archie Shepp, Médéric Collignon, Christophe Monniot, Elise Caron and Abbi Patrix, to name just a few. He’s also co-leader of the group Zarboth, a musical UFO on the Parisian music scene.

Phil Reptil belongs to the brotherhood of musical storytellers. Éponyme is a poetic sequel to one of his numerous dreams. For the first time in his discography, he has chosen not to use extreme contrasting sounds which are usually his hallmark. His new stories unfold continuously, in an atmosphere of tranquillity and gentleness, as if part of a dreamlike voyage in thirteen stages, or a full-length feature film, in which his rapport with the cinema and literature blossoms in splendour.

With Nosfell, a unique singer-experimenter, he has found the ideal partner for expressing his reveries in two songs with strong hints of pop – Goe and Guru.
Macdara Smith, the firebrand narrator already heard alongside him in Zarboth, distils his highly-strung poetry in the very electro and cinematographic Ayana and the poignant chant A Life of Suffering.
With Simon Goubert, Claude Tchamitchian and Sophia Domancich, he ventures into the amazing world of interplay – for the first time and to the highest level – and passes extremely naturally from free rock to free jazz, without ever losing the thread of his narrative, in Profondo Rosso and Kuun Laulu.
Like Bill Frisell, his multicoloured guitars also know how to play with the silence and space. A broad acoustic and electric palette can be heard on Éponyme in short or long solo pieces: Walking Andy Suite, What is Love, Cherubino.
Étienne Gaillochet, the drummer who shares all his adventures and Carole Agostini, the guitarist delicately playing in the opening duet La Fabuleuse Histoire de..., complete this made-to-measure cast.

Inspired by the Kwakiutl Indians and their potlatch ceremony, Phil Reptil invites us here to a celebration where a myriad tiny sonorous gems are generously distributed to listeners: distant beaches, imaginary jungles, age-old theatres, memories and vestiges.
As in Kwaxwalawadi (Echo Bay), Éponyme resonates with multiple chants brought back from Phil Reptil’s faraway musical journeys. It’s a jewel in an astonishing musician’s career. Not to be missed.

Produced by Vincent Mahey and Phil Reptil.
Recorded and mixed between July 2022 and January 2023
Recording assistants: Tristan Barège and Éva-Marie Roche
Executive production: Virginie Crouail and François Yvernat
Mastering: Raphaël Jonin J RAPH i.n.g.
Graphic design: Atelier Bagarit
Photographs: Anastasia Plekhanova