Ian Williams 'Les Blessures Invisibles' ['Invisible Wounds'] : new soundtrack album out 22.05.20 / includes 'URA235' : single out now

London based composer Ian Williams has written the soundtrack to the new documentary film by French director Eric Michel, 'Les Blessures Invisibles' (Invisible Wounds), which investigates the consequences for the Gabonese town of Mounana of almost half a century of uranium mining. For many years the town had been the biggest supplier of uranium to the French nuclear industry, but in 1999 its mine was deemed no longer viable and the mining companies and their personnel withdrew. This left the infrastructure to fall into disrepair and the townspeople to face an uncertain future, with the after-effects of years of close contact with radioactive material not yet known.

The soundtrack album features not only the music used in the film, but also some written for footage not used in the final edit. A lush orchestral/electronic hybrid, its contents span the pastoral Popol Vuh-like textures of the evocative opener ‘C’est pas d’aujourd’hui ces Montagnes’ (translation: ‘As Old As The Mountains’), percussive workouts and several ambient yet highly musical interludes, before ending with the sweeping, string-laden Preisner-esque ‘Mounana’.

The first single, the Leftfield-ish tribal techno stomper 'URA 235’, is named after the works football team, derived from the name of the type of uranium mined there. It comes with a video made from footage not used in the film and features the current incarnation of the town’s team, renamed Académie Sport de Mounana since the closure of the mine. Training, match, pub, African-style! Both the single and video are also available in edited form.

‘Les Blessures Invisibles' was released in France shortly before the coronavirus lockdown, although it will be made available on DVD and VOD later in 2020.

Ian Williams began his music career in the early 1980's as a founder of Beautiful Pea Green Boat, whose ethereal, atmospheric sound pre-dated the current vogue for dream pop. Several collaborations with Lebanese choreographer Joumana Mourad and her contemporary dance company Ijad saw him fuse Arabic, classical, techno and ambient styles, following which he changed tack to work with singer Claudia Barton as Gamine, releasing two albums of dark, piano-led torch songs and lullabies.

2019 finally saw the release of his debut solo album, 'The Dream Extortionists’. Twelve years in the making, it is a melancholic yet melodic work featuring the piano as both a simple sole instrument, but also often heavily processed and accompanied by electronic and orchestral textures, occasional guitar and voices.