I recently had the chance to dive into NiMO’s latest album, “Jarre Acoustique,” and it’s quite an interesting project. NiMO, whose real name is Jeroen van der Wiel, released this album on August 24th as a tribute to Jean-Michel Jarre, the legendary electronic composer.
What struck me about this album is how NiMO has taken these iconic electronic tracks and reimagined them for solo piano. It’s a bold move, especially considering NiMO’s background in rock music. He’s been in the industry for over 25 years, working with artists like John Hayes and Ian Parry, so this acoustic approach is quite a departure from his usual style.
The album features 11 tracks, all acoustic piano renditions of Jarre’s work. It’s fascinating to hear these electronic compositions stripped down to their essence. NiMO’s approach really brings out the core melodies and harmonies in a way that reveals the “soul” of Jarre’s music.
One of the standout tracks for me is “Chronologie Part 3,” which features Patrick Rondat, Jarre’s long-time guitarist. It’s a nice touch that adds an extra layer of authenticity to the project.
I had the opportunity to chat with NiMO about the album, and it was interesting to hear about his creative process. He’s a self-taught keyboard player and composer, and his career has spanned multiple genres, from progressive rock with his band Odyssice to experimental electronic music. This project, though, is something entirely different.
NiMO shared some insights into the challenges he faced during production, particularly in adapting these complex electronic compositions for solo piano. It’s clear that this was a labor of love for him, combining his passion for Jarre’s music with his own innovative approach.
For fans of Jean-Michel Jarre or anyone interested in the intersection of electronic and acoustic music, I’d definitely recommend giving “Jarre Acoustique” a listen. It’s a unique take on some classic compositions, and it showcases NiMO’s versatility as a musician.
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“Jarre Acoustique” has a unique title and sound. What inspired the concept behind this album, and how did you choose the direction for its acoustic elements?
Well, in the late ’90s, I started to fantasize about what it would sound like when tracks like Enthicolor or Second Rendez-Vous would be adapted and performed by a symphony orchestra. In 2006 we saw the release of the Symphonic Jean Michel Jarre by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, and to me, this was a bit of a disappointment to me, the arrangements weren’t dramatic enough.
I would have completely re-approached the song as a real classical piece. Now they did an easy one-on-one transfer to orchestra, and I see it as a missed opportunity. So I dismissed that fantasy. Fast forward to 2018 when I saw this video on YouTube by a classically trained pianist performing his interpretation of the first four Oxygen parts. And that intrigued me. That was done exactly the way I expected to be done. And amazingly enough, the Jarre tunes were still strong in that stripped-down piano version, without all the layers of synths and effects. Just one pure analog piano. And that planted the seed.
Is there a particular narrative or theme that runs through “Jarre Acoustique”? How do the tracks connect to each other to tell a cohesive story?
No, there is no such concept used. When selecting songs for this project I did try to avoid the obvious ’hits’ and choose in the first place the already dramatic songs. Further in the process, I raised the bar a little higher and selected the less obvious songs, that were more challenging, such as Stardust and Oxygene 17.
This album places a strong emphasis on acoustic sounds. What motivated you to explore this stripped-down approach, and how does it differ from your previous work?
Electronic music is commonly regarded as machine music. No soul, no depth, just programmed notes. But I noticed this was different in the music by Jean-Michel Jarre. By reducing the many layers of sounds to one analog piano, I tried to expose the soul in his music.
This is in total contrast of my other work. With Odyssice, I wrote and played progressive rock, with Thirteen and my work for Ian Parry my sound became more heavy and bombastic. My latest other work is more experimental EDM, again with multiple layers of sounds and synths. But I love the contrast with this piano album, and I really loved working on this project because of its simplicity and beauty.
Could you take us through your songwriting process for this album? Were there any specific moments or experiences that heavily influenced the lyrics and melodies?
First I had to learn the core melodies, discover the harmonies, and understand the accompanying chords and rhythms. And then transfer this to one single piano, played by only two hands but without losing sight of the essence of the song.
That was also an interesting challenge. Only with the track Second Rendez-Vous, it was impossible to reduce the playing to just two hands without leaving out major melody lines, so I decided to arrange it for four hands (à quatre mains).
I’ve always been an admirer of the piano works by Claude Debussy, especially songs like Clair De Lune, Reverie, and Arabesque I + II and I few years back I discovered the works of Dustin O’Halloran and Yann Tierssen. These pianists influenced me to choose for a romantic direction for the arrangements because I think the piano has it’s best moments in that style. Plus tracks like Souvenir Of China and Gloria Lonely Boy fit this style perfectly.
Who were the key collaborators on “Jarre Acoustique,” and how did their contributions shape the final sound of the album?
When the recordings were done and I was working on the mixes, the green light came from Jarre and his management. So the whole thing became really serious from that point on. And I started to realize that I wanted something special on the album, something that would surprise the fans. So one morning I got the idea of inviting Patrick Rondat to play acoustic guitar on one track.
Patrick was Jarre’s live guitarist from 1993 until 2005 and he happened to play on two of my songs, which I wrote for Ian Parry’s ’In Flangrante Delicto’ album back in 2020. So there was an almost direct line although I’ve never met or spoke with Patrick and I had no idea what his response would be to my proposal. Well he turned out the be a great guy. He loved my version of Chronolgie 3, which I’d sent to him.
He told me that the song is very special to him since it was the very first song he worked on when he was invited by Jarre to participate on the Chronologie album in 1993. It took him no more than two weeks to find time and re-arrange his parts from the heavy electric guitar to the gentle acoustic strings of his Ovation guitar. He even did more playing than I asked for and that gave me the ability to let the acoustic guitar shine in that song and, at one point, created a beautiful question-answer play between the piano and guitar.
The instrumentation on “Jarre Acoustique” seems thoughtfully curated. How did you decide on the instruments and arrangements for each track?
The choice of instruments was obvious, since it’s a piano album. I choose the Yahama CFX Concert Grand Piano for not only its warm sound but also for its fresh and clear sound, especially in the high notes.
Once working on a song I could ’hear’ the arrangement, I could hear the right bassline melody to accompany the leading melody. I’m not classically trained, I never took piano lessons, I can’t read notes, it was like the arrangements were just floating around me and I only had to catch them.
What were the biggest challenges you faced while creating this album, and how did you overcome them?
I had some trouble with the piano sound. It had a soft crackling sound in the high frequencies, especially when playing soft passages. It wasn’t loud but during the playback of the recordings it annoyed me. I had no idea where it came from and it took me a while to find the causative agent. It turned out to be a result of the mechanism of the piano, as with any piano. Eventually, I managed to ’fix’ it using some de-cracking plugins in order to make the annoying cracklings go away or at least soften them strongly.
How does “Jarre Acoustique” reflect your personal growth as an artist? Are there any particular tracks that hold a special meaning to you?
To be honest, when I started the project, it was just something I wanted to do for myself. I had no idea if I was capable of rearranging a existing song to purely piano, I never wrote a kind of classical piano piece before!
The interplay between Patrick and me on Chronologie 3 is for me one of the highlights of the album. But also tracks as Gloria Lonely Boy and Souvenir Of China move me. And let’s not forget the beautiful versions of the originally dance tracks Stardust and Oxygene 17, it’s just amazing how they turned out to these beautiful songs.
With the release of “Jarre Acoustique,” where do you see your musical journey heading next? Are there any upcoming projects or collaborations you can share with us?
Like I said earlier, I really enjoyed making this album, so there might be another Jarre Acoustique (part two) but that’s all depending on the success of this one. And I’m also looking into the idea of doing the same with the music by Kraftwerk, although that probably turn into a more experimental piano album.
Besides the piano album project, I want to further develop my experimental EDM sound. I have two tracks out on the streaming services, but I’m still not there yet, I’m considering adding some heavy guitars, but I haven’t had the time to actually to down that path yet.
How did you approach the visual and artistic presentation of “Jarre Acoustique”? Did the album’s concept influence its cover art and promotional materials?
Regarding the sleeve designs, there’s one name very strongly connected to Jarre’s albums: Michel Granger. I love his work and I wanted the artwork for the Jarre Acoustique album also to be a tribute to Granger. I found an intriguing picture online that formed the base for the artwork.
I added some details to the concept and asked my wife to do a commission painting. So she painted the long, tall dark figures and added the coloured auras as a wink to Granges work for the Chronologie album. But the twist for me was that when you look at the artwork from a distance, you can see that the figures actually form a row of keys of a piano, and that was the perfect link to the piano recordings.
Do you have any plans to perform the tracks from “Jarre Acoustique” live? If so, how do you envision translating the acoustic essence of the album to a live setting?
At this moment, there are no intentions to perform this work live. If there would be a number of interesting requests, I might consider to create a project for it, but to be honest I did retire from playing live a few years a go.
