| Jazz |
Album Release Concert Set for September 17, 2025 at Studio de l’Ermitage, Paris, France
In the quieter tides of summer, when the relentless current of album releases temporarily recedes, there emerges space for reflection, for attention, and for a kind of listening that is both more intimate and more expansive. It is within this welcome lull that we take a closer look at Feux, the newest offering from the French jazz collective Theorem of Joy, led by bassist, composer, and arranger Thomas Julienne. And it is not merely a new album, it is a statement of artistic evolution, an act of borderless musical storytelling that deserves to be heard before the flood of fall releases crashes upon us like a sunlit wave cresting across the ocean.
Theorem of Joy is not new to acclaim. With two critically celebrated albums, Theorem of Joy (2018) and L’Hiver (2021), and a 2022 audiovisual collaboration Dysnomia Live with photographer Alexandre Dupeyron, the group has steadily carved out a name for itself in the European jazz scene. Their 2024 tour of China further solidified their reputation as artists with both vision and versatility. And yet, Feux marks something of a turning point: a project that feels not only sophisticated and finely honed, but also emotionally resonant and daringly open.
At the heart of this latest project is the extraordinary voice of Raphaëlle Brochet, whose artistry alone could command a stage. Her vocal versatility and radiant originality allow her to move effortlessly between genres, infusing each piece with both technical mastery and poetic intuition. In Feux, her voice becomes both anchor and compass, guiding the listener through an intricate landscape of sound that draws from Indian melismas, classical motifs, post-rock atmospheres, and even electronic textures. Brochet doesn’t so much sing the music as breathe it into being.
The ensemble around her is no less impressive. Composed of some of the most skilled players in contemporary French jazz, Theorem of Joy is less a traditional band than a chamber of collective imagination. One senses a profound artistic synergy between its members, this is music arranged not from the top down, but through shared exploration, through trust. The result is a set of compositions in both English and French that feel intellectual without being cold, poetic without pretense. Rhythm serves as the throughline, tying together disparate movements like the chapters of an ever-shifting novel.
What Feux offers is more than a listening experience; it is an auditory cartography of modern uncertainty and wonder. Every track acts as a terrain of thought and emotion, where doubt meets hope, where light contends with shadow. The album invites introspection, yet remains remarkably accessible. Its multiplicity of influences doesn’t fracture the sound, it enriches it, embodying a genuinely global aesthetic. The musical bridge it builds between Europe and the Maghreb, between jazz tradition and contemporary exploration, is deliberate and defiant. In an era marked by retreat into insular identities, Feux speaks the language of openness.
It is, in this sense, a radical album, not for its aggression, but for its grace. It dares to believe in a world where borders can be musically dissolved, and where complexity can be beautiful rather than overwhelming. It’s a kind of musical diplomacy, directed toward listeners whose tastes span classical to rock, jazz to world music, and everything in between. It is also, refreshingly, something quite unlike the polished, formulaic productions that dominate much of the U.S. music scene today. It has weight. It has voice. It has fire.
With this project, Thomas Julienne proves once again that he is one of the most thoughtful and singular composers of his generation. Tireless in his work ethic, unafraid to challenge form, and continually evolving, Julienne crafts albums not as products but as worlds unto themselves. Feux doesn’t fit neatly into the European jazz landscape, it overflows its edges. One hopes, then, that North American festivals, on both U.S. and Canadian soil, will take notice and extend an invitation across the Atlantic.
The release concert at Studio de l’Ermitage in Paris on September 17, 2025, will no doubt be a moment to remember. But more than that, it will be the beginning of what we can only hope is a much broader voyage. The fire is lit. Now it’s time to see how far its light can reach.
Would you like me to help with a press release for the concert, artist bios for the group members, or a pitch to North American festivals?
Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, June 27th 2025
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Album Release Concert Set for September 17, 2025 at Studio de l’Ermitage, Paris, France
Theorem of Joy is a band supported by Bayou Blue Radio and PARIS-MOVE
Musicians:
Thomas Julienne, composer and double bass
Raphaelle Brochet, voice
Anthony Winzenrieth, guitar
Robin Antunes, violin
Tom Peyron, drums
Guests:
Sary Khalife, oud (titles 4 and 5)
Robinson Khoury, trombone (titles 2 and 9)
Tracklist:
New Spring
Au Monde
Heart Wide Open
Echo 1
Behind the Sky
Little Raymonde
In the Way
Echo 2
Upside Down Candle
Ideal Robots