Toulon, France-based singer/songwriter, composer, producer and guitarist Pierre Grech has long been influenced by folk, indie rock, hip-hop, jazz, contemporary classical and electronica. Interestingly, the Toulon-based artist has had a lengthy career that can be traced back to the early 2000s: He was the frontman of experimental electronica act SLiDD — and around the same time, he co-wrote and arranged material on three Jen H. Ka albums.
Both as a solo artist and bandleader, Grech has played shows across Paris and Southern France with re-arranged and re-imagined renditions of his material in several different iterations, including electro rock, acoustic, cello-guitar duo, rock trio and others. But over the past few years, Grech has been refining and honing his songwriting and compositional approach, and his guitar playing. This has resulted in his latest project, _telemaque_,which finds the Toulon-based artist drawing from his long-held influences while crafting pop that’s energetic yet sensitive.
Grech has been rather prolific over the past couple of years: Last year, he released his _telemaque_ debut June EP, which featured the OK Computer-era Radiohead-like, EP title track “June.” He followed that up with two more singles:
- “December Sun,” which is supposed to appear on his full-length debut. Reportedly, the most rock-leaning song on the album, “December Sun” saw the French artist continuing to refine his sound and approach with the song still drawing from Radiohead but also nodding at krautrock and folk.
- “Your liquid smile,” the breezy samba meets OK Computer/Kid A-era Radiohead-like single that features guest spots from Kentaro Suzuki (bass) and Joakim Toftgaard (trombone), and was centered around a loose yet hypnotic groove featuring a supple bass line and skittering beats, a looping guitar-driven melody and a mournful, modal trumpet line, which gives the song a wistful, nostalgic air.
The French JOVM mainstay will be releasing a new EP, We see you when you don’t see us in Spring 2023. The EP’s first single “The Sailor” continues a run of gorgeous, folk-leaning indie rock centered around strummed guitar, Grech’s plaintive vocal, a gorgeous horn and string arrangements. “The Sailor,” which is inspired by The Odyssey and William Ernest Henley’s “Invictus, was written shortly before the birth of Grech’s third child — and is rooted in earnest yet metaphorical songwriting.
In the case of “The Sailor,” Grech uses the metaphor of a sailor, who has come through a storm and is sailing a calm sea. But the song is actually addressed as a message to his children, offering advice on how to live life — to appreciate life’s beauty, fragility in its joys and tribulations.