New ‘chanson cathartique’ by Auren (not to be confused with Aure):
Meimuna
Meimuna describes her music as ‘delicate folk in French’ (check her insta), which is true, but she’s adding beats and fx to that delicacy. ‘Nuits blanches’, the new single, has that trance-like build up (around 2m20s) that makes you wanna throw up both your hands, wailing. Before that moment, it’s Cyrielle Formaz’ voice (for she is Meimuna) that’s taking the spotlight: soothing, comforting. If Cyrille was a Swiss chocolate bar, I’d buy a warehouse of stock. By the way: there’s a big Dutch influence on this track (and others), with Ella van der Woude producing and playing, Nicky Hustinx and Nana Adjoa on drums and bass, and the mixing is also done by hands from the Lowlands. Which is nice.
Hotel Particulier
Named after a Gainsbourg song, and getting better with every release, Lyon-based band Hôtel Particulier is high on the hot list of this blog. Gentle new single Dans ta poche (ooh listen to that voice of Mélodie! Yes, Hôtel Particulier has a singer called Mélodie!) is, again, a bright shining gem:
Iliona
Iliona, from Brussels, is singing a song of heartbreak, or is she just thinking about what heartbreak is like? Seule, with that church like organ, and Iliona looking like the virgin Mary at the start of this video, has a very serious vibe, but the lyrics (translated in this video to English) confuse me. What do you think? Is this the real life, is this just fantasy?
Maëlle
New song by upcoming French pop star Maëlle. Posted about her earlier, this is yet another very smart & sexy pop song. The beat and sample (is it a sample?) reminds me of Solange’s Losing you.
Viragezero
It’s the hard funkin’ bassline that draws immediate attention. The melancholy-filled, eighties-referring female vocals are a high point too. As is the head nodding beat. That Viragezero is inspired by 90s abstract hip hop and electronica-overlords like Boards of Canada, also a big plus.
From the bio: ‘Viragezero is a new Geneva-based project born from the meeting of several musicians well known on the local scene. Around the brother and sister duo of Citron Citron (Zoé and Augustin Sjollema) gather two former members of L’Éclair (Sébastien Bui and Elie Ghersinu, also a member of Magic & Naked) and a musician from Magic & Naked (Léonard Persoz). Five trajectories intersect here to form a new sonic constellation, somewhere between dreamy electronica, hazy guitars and rhythms inherited from trip hop.’
Let’s follow this lot very closely.
Jérôme & Salomé
Salomé Leclerc has a modest role on the new Jérôme Minière single, but anything with Salomé is worthy of posting here. Plus, it’s a cool song, about a calculator. Or, maybe, about trusting the machines a little too much (hello ChatGPT).
Rosie Valland
‘Confession/Ces jours-ci/Je m’affale/Comme un naufrage.’ Makes two of us, Rosie, in these dark days of destruction, I too feel like I’n collapsing (affale) like a shipwreck (naufrage). Good thing Montreal’s Rosie Valland put the song to a very uplifting dance beat: when all else fails, you can still dance. I hope.
Dopamoon, Alice Boccara
No relation to Frida Boccara, as far as I know, but Alice Boccara’s Sprechgesang on this very funky track by Dopamoon is both sexy and playful. The track reminds me, because of the ‘allez danse’ line, of -M-‘s Machistador.