Riff Cohen
Oriental trash pop. Les Calamités, bellydancing. Keren Ann with a mohawk. If your curiosity is tickled by these descriptions, be sure to try Riff Cohen‘s blend of fuzz-drenched, French tales of 1001 Night. She’s from Israel, studied music in Paris and is very proud of her Tunesian roots. Her album’s just out, I missed out on her first single, A Paris earlier. Shame. Riff’s voice is highly charming, her songwriting’s a bit naive or, one could say, close to 60s YeYe. Most songs on Riff’s album are in French, some in Hebrew, other in Arabic. At times, I thought back to Sapho, the Moroccan-French singer who also blended North-African influences with French-oriented pop in the 80s and 90s.
I’m expecting that, because of Riff’s exciting mix of styles and her looks, she could do well outside of France.
Interview in Haaretz HERE. Another nice interview HERE. Video for J’aime HERE
I like. I’d agree that lyrically she’s unlikely to pick-up any awards at the moment, but there’s more than a hint of early Lizzy Mercier Descloux and something quite delicious in the of native instruments and rhythms which she’s married to her vocal style (more Les Calamités than Keren Ann, I think…)
The linked interviews are well worth checking out – and Riff is added to my list of artists to check out