Review Monograph – Fernant Zeste

Monograph review | You don’t have to worry, we won’t be turning LifeisXbox into LifeisMusic. Although music is another big passion of mine. If I wasn’t so occupied with playing Xbox and spending so much time writing about it I would love to write more about live concerts and album releases. So why this exception for Fernant Zeste’s new album Monograph? Well, this blues singer has been a friend of mine since 2016 and we’re bound with some deep personal history. I honestly just wanted to do him a favor, I hope most of my readers will take the time to check out Fernant Zeste’s Spotify and give it a listen. I highly suggest track nine from Monograph, Lost (Till Death Do Us Part). A good friend or not, LifeisXbox stands for honest reviews so we’ll do the exact same with Monograph as we would do for any game we review. On a personal note, I absolutely loved to write this review in our known LifeisXbox layout, so I hope you enjoy reading it too!

We listened to Monograph four times before writing this review, the CD was played on Xbox Series X and the Spotify album on a Sony H.ear headset.

What we liked!

• Great partnership with Diego Joosten | The video clips and the artwork is done by Diego Joosten. If by any chance you might know Fernant Zeste you will recall this image from his 2017’s album Lost. He revisits this track in a reprise version on Monograph. This partnership simply works wonders, giving the videoclips from tracks Lazarus Taxon and One Tear every Day a real reason to pay attention.
• Beautiful guitar playing sounds | I was thinking to myself, it seems that the world opened up for Jona. (That’s how I call Fernant Zeste) There is a lot more going on now, I’m not technical enough to explain it more precisely but I’m sure fans from Fernant will understand what I mean here. This, for a lack of a better word, reborn sound makes it even more emotional and deeply immersive. There aren’t a lot of tracks where he actually uses his voice and that’s refreshing. It might sound like I don’t want to hear his voice now but that’s not the case, I do like his voice but Monograph’s complete package doesn’t make you miss vocals.
• An emotional journey | Monograph tells a story, instrumental and with lyrics. Jona’s always been good with catchy lyrics and One Tear Every Day proves that once more. For me the album all comes together with a more experimental version of Lost (Till Death Do Us apart) with some smart uses of voice effects he really lifts up the entire song. Making it one of the more accessible songs in his repertoire for the main audience.

Somewhere between

• Surprisingly new instrumental sound | Compared to his six previous albums Monograph is a lot more instrumental. I was a bit surprised about the style change, even though he warned me about it. Fernant is known to be dark and a bit moody in his previous work. That still stands but Monograph sounds more diverse, for some reason it seems to have more light and hope. Hope, it is something all of us can use right now. I can imagine that some loyal followers might have to get used to the different sound from Fernant Zeste. For me personally, it is great to see my friend evolve his skills and sound, I have always been a fan and once again he managed to touch an emotional part of me.
  

What we disliked

• Very specific ‘listen’ genre so not for everyone | This is true for every music genre but to fully enjoy Fernant Zeste’s work you need to truly take the time to listen. Nowadays that’s a difficult thing and not everyone enjoys a slower-paced style of music. Whether you hate or love it, you can’t deny the talented instrumental work. We gamers know how emotional music can be, it is an element that is equally important in the game experience, especially with emotional games like Life is Strange.

CONCLUSION

LifeisXbox.eu is the largest Belgian Xbox centered website, your reading time is greatly appreciated! Please consider sharing this review with your friends on social media, that means a lot for us! If you are Dutch speaking also consider joining our Dutch exclusive Facebook group Xbox Gamers Belgium. Feel free to use quotes for PR purposes.