Maximilien Mathevon's new album, Illogical Dreams, explores the surreal world of sleep, more importantly dreams, tackling their spooky and illogical side and how they let us escape from the real world. The music is designed to evoke the fantastical and paradoxical worlds that we visit when we momentarily slip from the waking world into this temporary unconsciousness.

The album was composed during the confinement linked to the COVID 19 pandemic, with Mathevon revealing that it also acted as a way for him to escape during this dark period.

At times I was reminded of the work of Vangelis, Jean-Michel Jarre and Klaus Doldinger, most notably his score for The Neverending Story (1984). I'd argue it's Mathevon's best work to date. The tracks flow well together and each piece has its own strengths. There's nothing here that feels like filler material. What we get are 9 (44 min, 45 sec) very different tracks that grow on you the more you revisit them.

If you've not been following the composer's output, I highly recommend you also check out some of his other works: Péplum: Muscles, Glaives et Fantasmes; Terror and Glamour The Rise and Fall of Hammer Studio; Haunted Light; Moonlight Navigator; Outside; Sundown Chronicles; Fly Away; Wild.

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Darren Rea