Mélanie Brulée

Mélanie Brulée hails from a Francophone family from Cornwall, Ontario. Her debut album “Débridée” is a little bit-retro yet most decidedly fresh in outlook, very definitely fun and also features a stunning version of a song from one of this blog’s favourite chanteuse.

What makes this album really standout though is the way in which Mélanie – who describes her musical style as ‘indie-spaghetti-western-surf-folk-cabaret’ – has taken typically English musical genres – rock and the roots of ‘Americana’, added copious lashings of guitar – mélangé to create something that sounds both incredibly contemporary and most assuredly French…

There’s rock and roll à la française in Astéroïde”, with it’s metronomic beat and tumultuous tumbling coda of guitars, alongside “Obtus” which is as good a song to launch an album as any I’ve heard this year. A quirky love song it’s incredibly retro – full of 60’s surf and tremeloed guitars – insanely cheerful and features a hook so ridiculously catchy that it should be quarantined in an isolation ward.

There’s also weeping steel guitars a plenty as Mélanie borrows from the rich folklore of Americana; the atmospheric “Peur de moi”, contemporary Alt-Country numbers such as “Coeur sauvage” and “Naked” with the latter featuring some very downbeat, trip-hop rhythms (Mélanie is an admirer of Portishead’s Beth Gibbons). And then there are songs where the guitars just take second billing behind the disarming nasal twang and vocal inflections, such as on “Antidote du doute” – which is just such a great pop-song that it leaves you wondering why all pop-songs can’t be as good as this – the imploring and questioning “Qui suis-je” and the distinctive “Merci”.

But finally there is Mélanie’s version of Vanessa Paradis’ “Marilyn et John”. While it is remarkably faithful to the original, the fragility conveyed by her voice so matches the song’s mood – I’ve always liked the song, but I love this version….

“Débridée” is an exceptional album that’s a little bit different and a little bit unexpected, but one that leaves you wanting to hear a whole lot more of Mélanie Brulée…