Maelstrom

Not to be confused with the Norwegian jazz duo or the Dutch electronica band of the same name, the Duplex under discussion here is a new Belgian project. Diatonic accordion player Didier Laloy, with his background in traditional and world music, has teamed up with violinist Damien Chierici from the Liège pop-rock scene. For this, their debut album, they are joined by Olivier Cox (drums) and Quentin Nguyen (keyboards). Cox's drumming is consistently sympathetic and powerful, adding real drama to many of the tracks.

Maelstrom takes the listener on a world tour of influences and styles, from Brittany to Argentina and from Canada to Bulgaria. ‘Valse de Ouessant’ has shades of both Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake and Led Zeppelin's ‘Kashmir’, while tracks like ‘Wapta Falls’ and ‘Cabestan’go’ recall the neo-tango grooves of Gotan Project. But this album is by no means an unfocused musical hotch-potch. Maelstrom is an exhilarating, mesmerising and well-paced listen with its echoes of the film scores of John Barry and Lalo Schifrin. Duplex's music has both a cinematic grandeur and a playful exuberance which makes Maelstrom an absolute delight.