London-based musician/composer Ian Williams has released a soundtrack album of his music for the fascinating 2023 French documentary ‘Le Mystère Lucie (Des Espions Contre Le Nazisme)’ | Codename Lucy (Spies Against Nazism).
He will shortly issue a companion album of music written for but not used in the film entitled ‘Le Mystère Lucie (Dossier Secret)’.
Both releases showcase Williams’ knack of fusing big tunes using electronic and orchestral sources while mixing in other elements and incorporating occasional blasts of industrial noise. Plus, it’s all spies and war, so what more do you want?
LE MYSTÈRE LUCIE (DES ESPIONS CONTRE LE NAZISME)
Documentary by Éric Michel and Jacques Matthey
A spy network led by the Swiss-based Jewish communist Sándor Radó was instrumental in precipitating the victory of the Allies during the Second World War.
Radó received confidential strategic information from the highest levels of the Nazi state and in particular from the HQ of the German army via Rudolf Roessler, a deeply anti-Nazi Christian who he never actually met. Roessler, codenamed Lucie because he was based in Lucerne, received his information from German supporters of the resistance, aided by notable members of certain industrial circles.
The exceptional work of these spies contributed to a victory on the Eastern Front but for eighty years remained the greatest secret of the Second World War. The eventual declassification of the archives allowed us to discover this incredible story
Ian Williams began his music career in Edinburgh in the mid 1980s as a founder of Beautiful Pea Green Boat, whose ethereal, atmospheric sound pre-dated the vogue for dream pop by at least twenty years. Several collaborations with Lebanese choreographer Joumana Mourad and her contemporary dance company Ijad saw him fuse Arabic/classical/techno/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.
Williams’ own releases include THE DREAM EXTORTIONISTS (2019), a debut solo album of dark piano and electronics; LES BLESSURES INVISIBLES (2019), an eclectic electronic soundtrack to a previous documentary film by Eric Michel; ALL BECOMES DESERT (2021), an album of minimalist ambiences and warm analogue soundscapes, plus his current studio album SLOW-MOTION APOCALYPSE (2023), which was described by Electronic Sound magazine as “designed to sound as if it’s on the edge of orgasm or violence. An unapologetic muscle car of an album” and has been compared to Tangerine Dream, Vangelis and Jean-Michel Jarre.