Marie-Pierre Arthur: Aux Alentours
Problem with Jan/ Feb releases is that they usually are forgotten by the end of the year. Not this one. We already fell in love with Québecoise singer Marie-Pierre Arthur after discovering her on Buck 65’s brilliant 20 Odd Years and her first, self-titled solo effort featuring the lovely folk-pop gem Pourquoi in 2009. Her brand new album, Aux Alentours, features finest eclectic fille pop all the way, combining shades of 70s glam rock, intricate touches of 80s dream pop and glimpses of retro attitude: Her voice encompasses the raw and the smooth perfectly, the tunes changing effortlessly between catchy melodies, gritty riffs and sweet, at times angelic moods. Marie-Pierre has claimed somewhere that originality does not exist, but proves herself wrong with almost every single song: Aux Alentours may start in Reference Alley, but heads straight to Reinvention Boulevard in that Grand State of the Art.
Marie-Pierre Arthur – Pour une fois
Marie-Pierre Arthur – Les infidèles
Buck 65 w/ Marie-Pierre Arthur – Final Approach
‘The coeur who cannot be named’
I was tempted to draw comparisons, but with respect to Guuz and a certain guy in Southern Cal … 😉
Thanks to the recommendations of the FS team I downloaded her eponymous debut album. Now comes the difficult sophomore album… And wow, if these tracks are anything to go by (and confirmed by listening on her bandcamp site), Mmme Arthur nails it as assuredly as a certain other quebecoise…