Cécile Schott (a.k.a. Colleen) is no stranger to the eerie side of ambient music. Since 2001, the Parisian producer has been crafting a unique collage of moody music, integrating dark and heavily effected samples from her record collection into her work, as seen on her 2003 debut Everyone Alive Wants Answers. Four years later, Colleen has stayed in touch with the darkness, but her newest darling, Les Ondes Silencieuses (Leaf), is no treated sound collage–it’s all about 17th century acoustic instrumentation.

Obsessed with the viol (a rare 17th-century instrument bowed like a cello, but fretted like a guitar with seven strings), Colleen found someone to custom-make the instrument, inspiring her to step out of her Acid Pro box.

Les Ondes Silencieuses is an unadorned piece of classical bliss–functioning on the tone of the instrument rather than layers of complicated melody. While tracks like “This Place In Time” levitate between open space and the thick resonance of the viol, layered pieces like “Blue Sands” use the same sampling techniques of her past, but with sole emphasis on the viol itself (hitting it with mallets, finger-picking, etc). The result is nothing short of creepy bliss.

Les Ondes Silencieuses is out June 19, 2007 on Leaf.

Tracklisting
1. This Place In Time
2. Le Labyrinthe
3. Sun Against My Eyes
4. Les Ones Silencieuses
5. Blue Sands
6. Echoes and Coral
7. Sea of Tranquility
8. Past the Long Black land
9. Le Bateau