YANG is a French progressive rock band founded in 2002 by Frédéric L’Épée. Their fifth album, Rejoice!, released in 2024 via the esteemed Cuneiform Records—celebrating its 40th anniversary—showcases their latest evolution.
This album features a lineup of Frédéric L’Épée on guitars, keyboards, and vocals; Laurent James on guitars, vocals, and chorus; Nico Gomez on bass and chorus; Volodia Brice on drums; and Carla Kihlstedt on vocals and chorus.
“Rejoice!” presents 13 new compositions that delve deep into progressive music’s rich tapestry.
rom the opening track, “Step Inside,” the album’s high level of compositional and executional quality is immediately apparent. Each musician exhibits exceptional balance and taste, resulting in a distinctive sound that marries modern colors with intricate textures and dynamic shifts. This creates a captivating and vivid musical experience.
The album’s structure highlights its complexity, featuring odd tempos, polyrhythms, interlocking harmonies, and eclectic outbursts. The seamless transitions between heavy prog and jazz demonstrate a chiaroscuro approach, where moments of intense musical tension are balanced with softer, more atmospheric passages.
Carla Kihlstedt’s contributions, known for her work with Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, are particularly noteworthy. Her distinctive vocals enhance the album’s emotional depth, as exemplified in “La Quatrième Mort/La Vie Lumineuse.” Her voice adds a melodic and evocative quality that beautifully complements the album’s shifting emotional landscapes.
Listening to “Rejoice!” is a journey filled with unpredictability. The music oscillates between heavy riffs and delicate, easy-listening passages, interspersed with earth-shaking jolts and sophisticated references.
Tracks like “Fire and Ashes” and “Rejoice!” feature dark, dramatic vocalizations that evoke both accessible and unsettling emotions.
The acoustic tracks offer a light, mysterious folk feeling, which then transforms into tense, rhythmically complex sections, weaving a rich and eclectic narrative.
The album’s melancholic elements are interspersed with bursts of new ideas, melodic lines, and jazz-infused showpieces.
The powerful, explosive instrumental sections, dominated by a fantastic rhythm section, create a dynamic listening experience.
While conventional melodies are present, the album’s brilliance lies in its relentless innovation and instrumental fervor, each track contributing to a whirlpool of creative intensity.
This is especially evident in the album’s longest track, “The Final Day.” It stands out as a masterful blend of colorful, richly instrumented complexity, with asymmetrical development and a meticulous balance between solidity and void. The composition immerses the listener in profound pathos and sensation, maintaining a perfect equilibrium between its numerous ideas and the avoidance of redundancy.
Rejoice! is a compelling and adventurous addition to the progressive rock genre, showcasing YANG’s extraordinary musical prowess and creative vision.
Prog Magazine – Sid Smith (UK)
Their fifth album, Yang’s Rejoice! (Cuneiform) is a glorious shape-shifting collection of guitar-centric songs variously touching upon Frippish complexities, plangent arpeggios and a surging sensibility covering a detail-rich musical landscape.
Led by ex-Shylock Frédéric L’Epée, previously an instrumental outfit, Yang has once again embraced vocals, provided here by Carla Kihlstedt, adding another layer to their expansive sound.
Prog Censor – Cicero 3.14 (France)
Il est des albums plaisants qui se livrent dès la première écoute. Et il en est d’autres, plus farouches, où la première écoute interpelle mais laisse pantois.
«Rejoice!» est de ceux là. Et, plus rare, il est de ceux que chaque écoute conforte un peu plus sur la certitude de toucher à des vibrations universelles, vraiment.
Frédéric l’Épée (compositeur et guitariste, depuis le Shylock des ’70), n’aime pas le son de sa voix. Alors la musique de Yang jusqu’à leur album précédent était instrumentale. Faite de guitares imbriquées, de contrepoints et de polyrythmies savantes, c’était implacable et diabolique. C’est toujours le cas. Mais depuis que Yang chante, l’émotion qu’ils procurent est décuplée.
Cette fois, c’est Carla Kihlstedt qui vient chanter avec le quatuor toujours composé depuis 2010 de Volodia Brice (batterie) et Nico Gomez (Basse) et de Laurent James (guitare et… basse au CHANT!).
La voix, féminine et/ou masculine, y est considérée comme un instrument supplémentaire, les textes, français et anglais, sont pertinents et actuels. La guerre, le fascisme et le dérèglement climatique perdurent, même si le Covid semble derrière nous, alors «Rejoice!» nous rappelle que la beauté existe encore et nous aide à trouver la lumière. Yang transforme les ténèbres en art.
Extrait du dossier de presse: «Selon la plupart des journalistes professionnels, les comparaisons sont odieuses. Et selon la plupart des professionnels musiciens, les critiques ne servent à rien.» Je ne suis que chroniqueur et, odieusement, j’invoquerai d’abord le puissant noir Soulages de King Crimson, son ancêtre Bach, Bjork pour le travail des voix, et enfin le minimalisme, le jazz et le symphonisme, mais je resterai, de toute façon, en dessous du spectre de ce disque, cohérent mais finalement inclassable, c’est «simplement» du Yang.
Un mot sur la belle fleur de la pochette: Yang c’est tout à fait cela! Un futur logo?
Écoutez, encore et encore, cet album indispensable comme un mantra curatif et réjouissez-vous!
DPRP – Owen Davies (Netherland)
Yang’s latest and fifth album follows their acclaimed Designed For Disaster release of 2022. The bands previous releases had been instrumental, but Disaster saw Yang use a vocalist for the first time.
This trend is continued in Rejoice. The use of the human voice buffs and smoothly polishes away some of the unnerving effects of the artfully creative, yet abrasive elements of the music. This ensures that the album has an emotional as well as an intellectual pull and appeal.
Consequently, Rejoice has a more song-based approach than anything the band has created before and the prominence of the vocals in this release certainly adds to that overall impression. However, the tunes are not songs in the traditional sense and rarely employ a verse and chorus structure. On the contrary, the tunes are bursting with structured creativity and include lots of inventive parts.
The vocal duties are predominantly performed by Carla Kihlstedt, although guitarist Laurent James also makes a significant contribution on several tunes, including the quietly absorbing and beguilingly beautiful Get Lost. At times, his vocal delivery in tunes like Surrender reminded me somewhat of an Accident era John Greaves.
Kihlstedt is probably best known for her involvement in Sleepy Time Gorilla. In her role within Yang, her voice employs many different timbres and tones. On occasion, it provides a smooth accessible air and texture to the music to support engaging tunes like Entanglement. Other times, it pierces the senses and offers a disturbing and discordant air which perfectly complements of the albums mood shifting qualities in evidence in tunes such as, Fire and Ashes and the title track.
Guitarist Frédéric L’Epée is probably still remembered for his role in Shylock during the 70s, but his work with Yang since 2004 is equally impressive.
The influence of King Crimson has often been observed in Yang’s previous albums. It can still be discerned in pieces such as, Step Inside where L’Epée’s expressive playing is reminiscent of Robert Fripp and in the evocative Crimson styled melodies of the title track and Strange Particles. However, the real strength of Rejoice lies not only in the quality of the playing, but in the qualities of the compositions.
Although the album has a long running time, time spent in its company passes quickly. This is largely due to the carefully placed running order of the tunes which ensure that the release has moments of contrast where both light and shade are dynamically presented and a wide range of emotions are evoked.
The musicians execute numerous changes of atmosphere as the album unfolds. Volume and pace are used to good effect to create tension and resolution. In this respect the contrast between, the lightly formed almost minimalist atmospheric styling of the beautifully shaped Berceuse For The Guilty and the rhythmic riffage of Strange Particles works particularly well.
Berceuse For The Guilty provides a great stopping off point to gather breath and to consider and appreciate the inventive and innovative nature of several of the tracks that precede it. Its ear friendly nature ensures that the tune forms a sheltered refuge. It offers a place to consider the excitingly progressive and arguably less accessible elements of the album from a place of measured tranquillity. Berceuse For The Guilty is simply a wonderful melodic interlude that is superbly supported by the ethereal and tuneful warbling of Kihlstedt.
There are several standout tunes. Concretion is undoubtedly one of my favourites. This instrumental piece is both delicate and gently strident. It has many different characteristics and the expressive guitar tones explore a range of textures.
However, the concluding composition The Final Day is probably the piece that I return to most often and on a regular basis. Its duration gives plenty of opportunities for different elements to be developed and interesting musical patterns to evolve. The instrumental passages bustle and burst. They simmer and smoulder and gently caress and clasp, to mould with and stand n perfect harmony with the engaging vocals. It’s an unusual mix, but somehow it all seamlessly works.
Overall Rejoice is a very accomplished album and should appeal to listeners who appreciate complex tunes played with great skill and vitality. I will certainly explore more of the bands back catalogue.
All About Jazz – Glenn Astarita (USA)
YANG, the post-rock outfit led by French guitarist Frédéric L’Epée continues to expand their sonic landscape with Rejoice.
L’Épée, a seasoned figure in the progressive rock realm and former member of avant-garde bands Shylock and Philharmonie, infuses YANG’s sound with his signature precision and emotional weight. Since their inception in the mid-2000s, YANG has crafted a distinct blend of post-rock, progressive rock, and classical elements, creating sweeping instrumental compositions that are as intricate as they are evocative. Known for their meticulous guitar work and dynamic shifts, YANG’s music takes listeners on an emotional and cerebral journey.
In Rejoice, YANG sharpen their skills in instrumental storytelling. The band expertly navigates the balance between tension and release, building soundscapes that oscillate between atmospheric calm and thunderous crescendos. The interplay of the instruments, especially the guitars, highlights their technical brilliance while maintaining a sense of fluidity and natural progression.
The album opens with “Step Inside,” a track that immediately grabs attention with its tight guitar interplay and dramatic shifts in mood. The chemistry between the guitarists is nothing short of captivating, as they weave together intricate melodies with Volodia Brice’s thundering backbeats, creating a dynamic sound that is both mesmerizing and hard-hitting.
A standout track, “La Quatrième Mort/La Vie Lumineuse,” introduces guest vocalist Carla Kihlstedt of California-based Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, whose haunting vocals lend a new dimension to YANG’s sound. The delicate balance of light and shadow in this track perfectly reflects the album’s underlying theme of hope emerging from chaos. Kihlstedt’s voice floats over the shifting instrumentation, adding an eerie beauty that lingers long after the song ends.
“Entanglement” is a masterclass in contrast, blending urgency and tranquility through intricate guitar voicings. The track’s midsection features a captivating melody, which emerges more clearly as Kihlstedt’s contrasting vocals set the stage for a build-up that is as unpredictable as it is satisfying.
The album closes with “The Final Day,” a somber meditation on themes of mass extinction and climate change. Yet, despite the weighty subject matter, the track carries an unexpected sense of catharsis. The elegant interplay of guitars and the sense of finality in the composition leave the listener reflecting on the fragility of the world but with a strange sense of peace.
The production, typical of Cuneiform Records’ high standards, is flawless, allowing each layer of the music—from the subtlest guitar harmonics to the towering crescendos—to shine. Listening to YANG is like riding a rollercoaster through sound—full of thrilling twists, breathtaking drops, and moments of unexpected beauty.
Prog Censor – Cicero 3.14 (Philippe Isèbe) – (France)
C’est seulement le 4e album de Yang, groupe créé en 2002 par Frédéric L’Epée. L’exigence reste la même, et une surprise réelle est au coin du sillon virtuel. Dès «Descendance», Frédéric et Laurent James ouvrent avec des entrelacs de guitares, façon Fripp/Belew (l’album en est parsemé), mais très vite, grande première: Ayşe Cansu Tanrikulu, une chanteuse intervient dans un registre alternativement jazzy et sériel, complétant un panorama fait de puissance rythmique tellurique et de textures rapides des guitares. L’apport de voix dans 5 morceaux est indéniablement une réussite, et Yang s’offre ainsi une nouvelle dimension: math, polyrythmie, minimalisme + humanité. «Collision Course» et «Disentropy» poursuivent dans la même puissance (style Crimson ’74). Puis vient «Golem», l’un des 3 interludes bien nécessaires, comme autant de respirations dans cet album d’une grande densité émotionnelle. La suite «Words» reprend dans un chœur lourd et oppressant (tel Magma), contrebalancé par le lumineux «Flower You», chanté et addictif dans sa progression imparable. «Unisson» propose une lente promenade qui prend peu à peu une ampleur majestueuse. «Migration»: première expo du thème par la basse sur une texture de guitare rapide. Thème repris par la voix chaude quasi jazzy. Mais ce serait trop simple, les rythmes se font mouvants, les patterns de guitares instables et, de manière implacable, le morceau ne nous lâchera qu’après 10 minutes denses. Délivrés mais totalement hébétés, empruntons «La Voie Du Mensonge». Sa cloche qui appelle les fidèles, ses guitares trémolos se répondent de manière inquiétante sur un tempo oppressant parfaitement servi par Volodia Brice (batterie) et Nico Gomez (basse). «Décombres», un superbe soundscape enossifié, offre une dernière respiration de 2 minutes, avant de finir en apnée avec «Despite Origin». De Bach à l’infini, cette ultime pièce magnifiquement ciselée finit dans une litanie, confiteor ou credo «pour toi» du quintet composé par un Kapellmeister du 21e siècle. Implacable, absolu.
INDISPENSABLE.
©Yang 2025