Yann Encre

This young French musician produces subtle compositions blending voice, acoustic instruments and discreet electronics. On his records, issued under the name Encre, the musical language is rich and the musicality dark-hued, a singular presence on the French rock scene. As Yann Encre, his musical paths take him through the territories as diverse as those of Marc Bolan’s Tyrannosaurus Rex or Leonard Cohen, the griots of West Africa and the Delta bluesmen. For his project Thee, Stranded Horse, he accompanies himself on a kora, an instrument he has come to love and now plays with inspired fervour. Earlier this year, the Auditorium at the Louvre commissioned him to wrote a work based on the short slapstick films of the early 20th century. The result was a minimal but melodic piece that was anything but illustrative. It is now the turn of the Printemps de septembre to commission a cine-concert for Ozu’s Tokyo Chorus, which is on release in France for the first time.