Exceptionally, this week we’re publishing not three but four reviews! The mood has been quite low recently, especially today, and we needed softness. However, none of these albums is putting a veil on reality, quite the opposite. And yet, we feel hope in there. Flashes.
A HUMAN REACTION – LAZY QUEEN
Lazy Queen’s new EP has a very pop type of rock, rather kind, that brings some amazing heavy riffs forward, breaking the ground in the process (Bed/Head), but that can also show a wonderful lightness, opening a window on the world of dreams (Detached, Together). Punctuated by dark spoken instants, like a personal diary recorded and altered by time, there’s an element of dystopia to it. Human or IA, potentially both, this is a being that we befriend quickly through the melodies. It is A Human Reaction.
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MAMA FORGOT HER NAME WAS MIRACLE – MÉLISSA LAVEAUX
Mama Forgot Her Name Was Miracle, it’s Mélissa Laveaux’s new, fresh, feminist, and magical opus. Either modern witch or traditional shaman, Laveaux is charming us with her bright vocals and mystical productions. Rosewater is particularly in this aesthetic, and we do have a weak knee for Lilith, a strong collaboration with Oxmo Puccino. Other more classical tracks, between rock and soul, are fascinating, like the powerful 7Sisters and the warm Papessa. These stories, focusing on women, are gripping, and they all deserve an attentive listen.
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OHANA BATAKÉ – KCIDY & KUMISOLO
A walk along the banks of a long clear water stream, the first song here is bringing French Variety in its classic form and soft Japanese pop to meet. The modern touches in the verses are pushing the contrast on the vintage part of the choruses. We fall in love with Kaze no tani no Nausicaä. Avec le vent is following the same pattern, sang in French. The two voices and the two universes are naturally connecting here. In three songs, their EP Ohana Bataké is leaving us hanging as we just want more. Hopefully KCIDY and Kumisolo will come back with another project together one day.
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I AM YUKI: THE HIROSHIMA PROJECT – DIEGO PHILIPS
I am Yuki: The Hiroshima Project by Diego Philips is a captivating album. The majority of its core is innocence, tenderness, hopefulness, joy. We follow Yuki in Hiroshima, Japan, where he lives and dreams amongst his family and friends. And then, it happens, the unimaginable. The end of the world, in three moments. The first one sees his naïveté and joy transformed into anxiety and fear. The second is the catastrophe, hell on earth… and the third is the aftermath, death, and desolation but also memory and history, later in a rebuilt city, a warning against war for future generations. The music transcends the story. It’s precise and we’re left speechless.
Now Playing:
Bed/Head – Lazy Queen
Rosewater – Mélissa Laveaux
Kaze no tani no Nausicaä – KCIDY & Kumisolo
Come Home Yuki – Diego Philips