New Zealand has been one of the first countries to witness the dawn of the much anticipated apocalyptic day that December 21st 2012 was supposed to be. It was not the end of the world, instead it was the perfect day for electronic band Minuit, to release their latest work “Last Night You Saw this Band”. Formed in Nelson NZ, the band whose name stands for midnight in French, consists of lead singer Ruth Carr and machine players Paul Dodge and Ryan Beehre. The music of Minuit explores a more stripped-down sound with lots of percussive songs that take you right to a journey between redemption and the upcoming apocalypse.
The opening title track holds a very warm welcome to all listeners with the music reminiscing a mariachi-style house party. Rhythmic island beats and soft vocals provide an uplifting experience within the very first minutes.
Leading single “Book of the Dead” is next and despite all the spooky lyrics, it feels more like a M.I.A joins a tribe dancing around a big fire sort of song. The temperature rises up with upbeat track “Islands” while the mood shifts again with the downtempo “What We Know”.
Ruth’s voice seems to work better on more sinister and aggressive performances like “The Love That Won’t Shut Up” and the beautiful “Ghost” where a haunting and almost frightening ritual takes place right under the starts. To many it will remind of the album’s cover where you can almost imagine Minuit mixing sinister with salvation, melting each track into a precise body of work.
Along with the mandatory lo-ends, gypsy brass, swampy slide guitar, and even some kids from an orphanage in Haiti comes the end to this odyssey on the edge of the world – and it couldn’t have been any more perfect with Ruth singing “Sit Down Beside Me”, a hymn of wonder and appreciation for the bright new dawn that has finally arrived and that we should never take for granted.