Selim Lemouchi: A Gem Amongst Stones

Photo: Jérôme Siegelaer

It's rather difficult to write about SL because his death is very recent and I'm still quite bummed out by it. Nonetheless, I feel compelled to write because I haven't really stopped thinking about him since I heard the news.

It doesn't matter how he died - it's not worth speculating over and is only the business of those close to him. What matters are the words, music and legacy he left behind - and to me personally, the sad fact that someone so talented is no longer here to share their gifts. I also have to reconcile with the strange loss I feel that I lost someone from "the team", one of the "good" guys.

The first time I listened to The Devil's Blood was in December 2009, which may be considered late by some fans since they'd already established a pretty solid name for themselves by that time. I delayed the inevitable because I was weary of the label "occult rock" that was being used to describe the music since it didn't really mean anything to me and I felt there was greater worth in pursuing "occult" and "rock" individually than at the behest of hype. It actually wasn't until a friend became genuinely pissed off with me for not giving TDB a proper chance that I finally gave in to his violent gesticulation and listened to the damned band (thanks Keith).

Well, I might not have known what "occult rock" was but I was indeed pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying what I heard. There was an exceptionally dark and emotive undertone to the music that I found myself identifying with almost immediately, as if a fish swimming aimlessly in the murky swamps of my psyche had bitten down long and hard on a well baited hook. A lot of music today sounds to me, quite plain and simply, like the layers of tracks intended to construct a particular sound. TDB however is rich in a very vital ingredient required to make up the recipe for what I constitute special music and if I don't feel it, I don't listen to it. And hooked I remain, from the first proper listen, to the magnum opus 'The Thousandfold Epicentre' (released 11.11.11) up until the very end that was the brilliant, Selim Lemouchi & His Enemies.

I think what attracted me the most was SL's exceptional ability to capture a perfect female/male dichotomy and unification in sound, a combination of masculine vulnerability and feminine ferociousness. While The Mouth's vocals are indeed an incredibly significant component of what contributes to the journey of TDB as a whole, it is actually in SL's words and music where I strongly connect with the feminine divine. There are of course songs such as 'Cruel Lover' that have rather masculine and passionate lyrics, words I love in particular since they are quite sexual and arouse me greatly; "occult rock" or not, seldom do I find song lyrics to move me so. And finally, it's difficult to ignore the persistent and harrowing undercurrent of desperation and despair surging beneath the waves of music like an incoming tide, most noticeably heard on the last TDB album/EP. They are sensations I suspect are only recognisable by those who are already well-acquainted with them.

To me, SL came across as a person of integrity, honesty and great depth. A thoughtful poet and a handsome and intelligent man who was unafraid to be sensitive and intense without compromise. I was fortunate enough to meet him last year after he approached me to talk about the Psychic TV patch on my vest and our conversation continued on to Industrial music, art, love, and travel. He even invited myself and N to visit him when we were next in Holland and I regret that not ever happening.

I share the following with some trepidation since I hate to sound as if I'm in someway riding the coattail of a person who can no longer speak for themselves but anyway I remember as he and I were talking, a spark passed through us - or at least through me. It wasn't some kind of planet-colliding, stars aligning cliché but rather a transfer of energy - as if we were both speaking on and within the same current - and it was then that I fell in love with him. And no, it's not because I'm a groupie or because he was an "occult rock" musician but because he was the kind of person who had the ability to evoke a certain element within me (and from what I've read, other people too) and for that brief period of time I really felt it.

So as I sit here in darkness smelling the fumes of Sandalwood and Musk as they coil around me and dance with the music of The Devil's Blood I say thank you, Selim. Thank you so much for being here and may you continue to thrive there, wherever Universe B may be.