Lara Leliane, Tristan Driessens’s eldest sister, is a musician, singer, songwriter and improviser, living on the high plateau of the Belgian Condroz where she composes most of her songs. Over the last years this untypical singer succeeded in creating a musical universe of her own in which several styles such as indie pop, folk, world, jazz, experimental delicately come together. The result is marked by the minimalist, unorthodox guitar playing on the one hand and the mystical slowness reminding you of Lhasa’s music on the other hand. Lara easily combines powerful drums with ûd, bass clarinet and harp.
“Real music goes beyond boundaries and especially beyond the well-known”. Lara describes her music as a “celebration of existence”. In 2015, Lara Leliane invited some excellent musicians and released her first album Free for the Belgian label Homerecords. The oud (Tristan Driessens), known for its mystical character got a privileged place in the opus. The bass clarinet (Frans Van Isacker) smartly interweaves with Lara’s enthralling voice. The result is marked by exorcising and exhaustive rhythms (Jens Bouttery). On the album Lara sings in French, English and Spanish. Most of the songs were written in what one could call a suspended time. A period of introspection, contemplation, solitude…This resulted in a series of definitely positive and straightforward songs. Lara involves the listener in her encounter with nature, emptiness, “the inner judge”, “the other”, freedom, … The sound of the oud, the bass clarinet and the harp (Sarah Louise Ridy, Isabelle de Spoelberch) all have this quality of inwardness. The drums and the percussions (Jens Bouttery, Dries Van Ende, Lara Leliane) give the songs a vibrant, sometimes ritualistic character.
Live line-up: Lara Leliane: chant, guitares, Nicolas Dechêne: guitares, Tristan Driessens: oud, Boris Schmidt: contrebasse, Seb François: batterie, percussions.