Yann Tiersen: All review – Masterful music for darkened rooms

To regard Yann Tiersen as a film composer reduces the span of his work. Fortunately the French man’s inherent punk streak has solidified a place for his intricate piano-based arrangements outside of idyllic scenes set in quaint, sepia-drenched towns staged for the big screen.

Instead Tiersen teleports listeners to Berlin's Tempelhof, his garden in Brittany, and the Redwood forests of California on All, his 10th studio album. Those anticipating a fervour of accordions à la the jovial soundtrack to Amélie – populated with songs from his first four solo releases – are in for an awakening.

Their absence makes way for compositions textured with organic instrumentation (Peu's sumptuous piano loops), field recordings (birds chirping throughout Prad) and touches of technology heightening a sense of despair via contrasting synth tones permeating Aon. Tiersen's dexterity is unparalleled over the course of this masterful record. While there's apparent isolation trickling through the ebb of chord progressions, a communal spirit born of vocal appearances by Emilie Tiersen and Anna von Hausswolff.

Best enjoyed in a darkened room: allow the immersive arrangements ease your mind and fill your ears with sounds of nature merged with Yann Tiersen’s captivating musicality.