Comment c'est

"These are quite the grimmest lyrics I have ever heard ... Each song is a catalogue of despair ... The music is strong, somehow, beneath all this misery, beautifully played, but despite the mellow woodwind and delicate marimba, it is bleak. As I listened to each sad song in turn, I heard resonances of Shostakovich's Baba Yar, and Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky. There is repetition, in the manner of Michael Nyman ... At other times I thought of Kurt Weill (at his most bitter - there is no Hollywood ending possible here) ... There is beauty, however, in all this bleakness. I liked two songs, "Commerce" - about the arms business - and "Hiver" (...) which is written from the point of view of someone living in the middle of a war. [Himiko] Paganotti sings with dignity and poignancy, there is no melodrama, anywhere, no matter how grim the words. Mantler's trumpet solos are exquisite, and so distinctive, immediately calling to mind his contributions to the Haden/Bley masterpiece of1982,Ballad of the Fallen, which was never off my turntable for most of the '80s. This is a fine record, if you can bear it".

"Den østrigsk-fødte trompetist og komponist har på sin seneste udgivelse begået en sangcyklus for kvindevokal og kammerorkester. Inspirationen udspringer af verdens sørgelige tilstand ... Det er tunge sager. Alle numre synges af den franske sangerinde Himiko Paganotti, som (...) [er mest kendt] for sit syvårige samarbejde med det franske krautrock-band Magma ... Max Brand Ensemblet formår med pianisten David Helbock i spidsen at skabe en platform, hvor Michael Mantlers trompet og Himiko Paganottis vokal på smukkeste vis komplementerer hinanden ... Åbningsnummeret "Aujourd'hui" leder tankerne hen på den belgiske minimalist Wim Mertens, som i sin lange karriere ofte har benyttet sig af det samme stramt komponerede udtryk ... Himiko Paganotti fylder med sin mangefacetterede vokal en del i lydbilledet. Men emnet og hendes tilstedeværelse er netop dét, der adskiller udgivelsen fra mange kompositioner indenfor genren. Lyt og tag stilling - det er væsentlig musik".