Paix

Paix incorporates elements of folk, rock, psychedelia, progressive/experimental music, and the avant-garde.[5] According to Impose magazine writer Trent Masterson, "This album remains hard to pin down ... It is extremely progressive in all aspects of the word and because of such it does not neatly fit into any specific genre nor is it easily comparable to any other album." Masterson felt that the album was an amalgam of the band's early sound of "rural psychedelia" and progressive rock combined with "some hints of burgeoning genres, such as space rock, chamber pop and even punk (the 'punk' aspect being Ribeiro’s unforgiving vocal deliveries in part)."[2]

As with Alpes' previous works,[12] Paix makes prominent use of the cosmophone and the percuphone, instruments invented by bandleader Patrice Moullet.[1] The cosmophone is a string instrument, resembling a lyre,[5] that can be played with either picking or bowing,[12] while the percuphone is a percussion instrument that produces rhythms by repeatedly striking a bass string using a small motor.[11] Bassist Jean-Sebastien Lemoine was made operator of the percuphone on Paix, forming the one-man rhythm section that would help define the band's unique dynamics on the album.[13]

"Roc alpin" is an upbeat instrumental with non-lexical vocals from Ribeiro.[8][13] Moullet's cosmophone backs Patrice Lemoine's organ, except during the bridge when it switches to playing a lead line. It is the only track to feature Michel Santangelli on drums, with the percuphone providing the rest of the album's percussion.[13] The song was also released as a single.[14]

"Jusqu'à ce que la force de t'aimer me Manque" is a love song[5] that exhibits elements of dream pop, specifically its acoustic guitar riffing and its harmonization of Ribeiro's vocal lines with Patrice Lemoine's organ.[2]

"Paix" begins with a slow fade in of a droning Farfisa organ part accompanied by a driving percuphone rhythm.[2][13] Writer Jean-Marc Grosdemouge likened the song to Maurice Ravel's Boléro as another composition "branded by its rhythm."[15] Moullet's cosmophone enters, after which a descending, hymnal theme is introduced and repeated throughout much of the song.[2][13] The song's introduction also includes an organ solo performed by Patrice Lemoine which Head Heritage noted bears a resemblance to Mike Ratledge's coda on "Song for Insane Times" by Kevin Ayers.[13] The intro persists for approximately five and a half minutes when Ribeiro's spoken word vocals suddenly enter.[2][15] After a second organ solo from Lemoine, the opening theme returns and Ribeiro accompanies it wordlessly.[13] The closing portion of the song "resembles doom metal in its descending bassline and Ribeiro’s spectral vocals."[5] As the track approaches 16 minutes, the song ends with a crescendo.[13]

"Un jour... la Mort" is about meeting a female personification of death.[2][13][16] Mojo editor Andrew Male described the song as a requiem.[16] It is over 24 minutes long and occupies the entire second side of the album; however, unlike the title track, it contains multiple sections.[2] The song begins with another slow fade in of an organ, this time accompanied with soft notes from Moullet's cosmophone.[2][13] This leads into the next section by a sudden rise of acoustic guitar strumming followed by more wordless vocals from Ribeiro, interluded with Patrice Lemoine's organ.[13]

The middle section of "Un jour... la Mort" begins with a rattling percuphone groove.[13] Moullet joins in with his cosmophone, now playing it with a bow. This is followed by a lengthy instrumental passage featuring an organ solo and swirling layers of microtonal piano lines.[2][13] The final section of the song is a coda, beginning with a solo acoustic guitar and ending with "jarring caws, thematic organ positions and patiently plonking bass" backing Ribeiro's vocals.[13]

Along with the band's two previous albums, N°2 and Âme Debout, Paix was remastered and reissued by Anthology Recordings in the United States on 14 September 2018. The three LPs were released both individually and together as a deluxe box set. The reissue marked the first time the albums were released in the US.[10]

Music critic Richie Unterberger ranked Paix number 3 on his list of the "Top 25 Rock Reissues of 2018", behind the Beatles' self-titled double album and Liz Phair's Exile in Guyville.[19] Sam Sodomsky of Pitchfork wrote that the album "stands as Ribeiro’s masterpiece because it comes the closest to containing her multitudes" and cited "Jusqu'à ce que la force de t'aimer me Manque" as "her most beautiful composition".[5] Joseph Neff of The Vinyl District observed that "Instead of faltering into repetitive stylistic patterns, Paix adjusts and integrates new elements, and pulls off a rarity; a third LP that betters it predecessors." He further remarked that Ribeiro's creativity on the album's longer tracks "underscores her stature as one of the underground’s finest vocalists."[14]