Univers Zero
Heatwave

After the release of the magnificent "Ceux De Dehors," Daniel Denis, founder and soul of Univers Zero, perhaps aware that this album represents the definitive pinnacle for the group's music, decides to change course and "modernize" the sound of Univers Zero with the intent of making it accessible to a wider audience.

The change begins with "Uzed" in 1984 but is fully realized 2 years later with the release of "Heatwave," composed with his faithful squire, the keyboardist Andy Kirk. The instrumentation is decidedly more "rock" compared to "Ceux De Dehors." There are still viola, violin, and clarinets (the group's trademark), but the synth replaces the organ and harmonium, and the sax takes the place of the oboe. Denis also recruits a second keyboardist and a "permanent" guitarist.

Let's say right away that Daniel's project succeeds halfway, the album is certainly more modern than its predecessors but certainly not more accessible. The instruments change but the structure of the songs does not. The most striking example is the very long "The Funeral Plain" (Univers Zero never were the cheerful types), composed by Kirk, a 20-minute hallucinatory puzzle where electronics initially creep in with threatening noises and whistles among the group’s typical acoustic instrumental breaks, then take over the piece, culminating in a frenzied guitar-synth duel in the final part. This is also the track where perhaps Daniel Denis shows all his technical prowess as a refined and imaginative drummer.

The other 3 tracks on the album also make no compromises, and the use of synths and electronic instruments, far from making the group's music less daunting and difficult, only makes it colder and more formal. It's a complex (rock?) music, sparkling with lights and colors like a crystal, that stimulates neurons and often dazes them, but that hardly reaches the heart.

Obviously, "Heatwave" will remain a niche work like its predecessors and will force a disheartened Denis to disband Univers Zero, which for many years will remain in the limbo of great unappreciated groups. They will resurrect in 1999 with the release of "Hard Quest," a dignified and well-crafted work, but certainly not up to the level of previous masterpieces.