Since he began moonlighting from his main gig as one-half of sci-fi prog powerhouse Zombi, multi-instrumentalist A.E. Paterra has become increasingly renowned as the mastermind behind Majeure. Following the assured debut epic, Timespan, his second album, Solar Maximum, delivered on the promise of a retro-futurist ambient synth-rock masterpiece. Romance Language continues this journey with two sprawling, side-long tracks that marry the sci-fi disco of Timespan with the celestial Mars-scapes of Solar Maximum. It is both a nod to Majeure's prior accomplishments, and a peek into his sunspot-bright future โ fitting for an artist whose entire career has been devoted to fluidly melding the past and the future to create a transcendent present.
Majeure combines the dark Moog-driven film scores of Vangelis with the relentless drive of Can and the transcendent minimalism of Steve Reich and Philip Glass. The brilliant mix of live and electronic rhythms is the heart and soul of Majeure's music, which has a funny way of making time either speed up or stop entirely.