► Vocal jazz: the sweetness of Youn Sun Nah
They by Youn Sun Nah, Warner Music CD, €17
Youn Sun Nah takes up an exclusively feminine repertoire with her caressing tone. The South Korean singer, associated with pianist Jon Cowherd, ventures on Feel good without pretending to compete with Nina Simone, whom she reveres: “Nina Simone is like a shaman. She is not just a singer, she is music itself. »
The artist revisits Björk (Cocoon) or Grace Jones with I’ve seen this face before (Libertango). A spiritual black, Sometimes I feel like a motherless childpsychedelic rock, White Rabbitan almost a cappella version of Killing Me Softly With His Song… The very Francophile Youn Sun Nah even takes hold of The crowd out of admiration for Édith Piaf. The ensemble, deliciously jazzy, testifies to the very sure taste and sensitive palette of this accomplished vocalist, to be listened to this summer at the major jazz festivals.
► Folk: Vera Sola, stormy lyricism
Peacemaker by Véra Sola,CD City Slang/Spectraphonic Records, €16
Vera Sola has been described as “the lost child of Leonard Cohen and Nancy Sinatra” upon the release of his first album Shades in 2018. This shows if the return of the American-Canadian singer, author and musician was expected.
Peacemakerhis second disc, exceeds the promises placed in it. His deep voice carries the darkness of a storm. Evolving from stripped-down folk to a rock outburst in the same song, it seduces with the scale of its orchestrations.
At his best in song blood connectionDanielle Aykroyd (real name) has a degree in poetry from Harvard. The lyricism of his texts, the melodic coherence of his compositions and the captivating mystery of his timbre will be discovered on June 28, 2024 at the Cité de la musique-Philharmonie de Paris.
► Jazz: Kathrine Windfeld or the gift of writing
Aldebaran, Kathrine Windfeld Sextet, Stunt Records, €18
The talent to write is not given to all musicians. Kathrine Windfeld certainly has it, both for refining melodies and for dressing them up with arrangements.
Until now, the Danish pianist had put her gifts at the service of big bands, thus following in the footsteps of her prestigious elder, the American Maria Schneider. In this new opus entitled Aldebaranit is in a sextet that she presents new compositions. And it is striking to note, from the first measures, to what extent she manages to make this reduced formation sound thanks to a style that is both ample and incisive.
The casting of his sextet, both in the choice of brass instruments (trumpeter Tomasz Dabrowski, saxophonists Marek Konarski and Hannes Bennich) and in that of the drummer (Henrik Holst Hansen), has a lot to do with this success. Special mention for two ballads, the evocative Widow of the Sea and a poignant Letter to Lviv, in homage to the martyred Ukrainian city.
► Pop: the new wave nostalgia of Lescop
Dream gone, by Lescop, Labréa Musique/Wagram, €15
Lescop caused a sensation in French pop with the album The forest in 2012. New wave atmosphere, melancholy, beautiful writing in French…
The artist finds these assets for his comeback album, in a nostalgic atmosphere, as evidenced by the vintage red Mercedes in tow illustrating its cover. In 13 intimate songs, his voice with syncopated inflections recounts emotional routs and reconstruction, on haunting rhythms.
Produced by Thibault Frisoni, craftsman of a crafted sound, the album contains three duets with Izïa, Halo Maud and Laura Cahen, who bring romantic touches to this impeccable pop score. The beautiful tour that accompanies Dream gone shows that Lescop has not been forgotten.
► Song: paths of light by Fabien Martin
I’m just walking in the mountain, by Fabien Martin, CD Littoral Records/Kuroneko/TeamZic, €15
Fabien Martin traces his path in French song almost twenty years after his first album, Everest. Intimate and pop, his new album draws his self-portrait as an honest man. How to become who I amhe asks himself, providing his answers in puzzle style.
His very danceable duet with the all too rare Jil Caplan moves forward by “hitting reality”. American bassist Jeff Hallam, a long-time accomplice of Dominique A, joins him on vocals on I want a lover, on a tune bluesy. Two raw sensibilities confront each other during another duet In my black box with Bear (Charles Souchon).
From the escapes of Fabien Martin, between piano and synths, between saxophone and voice, we retain soundscapes that breathe and soothe.
► World music: with Lina, fado without tears
Fado Camões by Lina, CD Galilée Musique/Uguru/Pias, €16
A Portuguese singer with a clear tone, Lina made herself known in France with a tribute album to Amalia Rodrigues, created with the musician Raül Refree. This time the young fadista sings the poems written in the 16th century by Luis de Camões, the “Portuguese Shakespeare”.
English producer Justin Adams surrounds his vibrant and nostalgic vocals with throbbing guitars, woven strings, piano and refined silences, in a sonic setting. Well-balanced synthesizers and percussion add their touch of modernity to the melodies written by the artist on the words of the poet.
With Lina, fado loses its melancholy, but retains its charm. He takes on sensual accents during a duet with the Spanish singer Rodrigo Cuevas, What I fear and what I desirein perfect osmosis of the two voices.
► Pop: Mylène Farmer, a remix of her hits and a scholarly book
Remix XL by Mylène Farmer, CD, €19 (or double vinyl, €42)
Sociology of Mylène Farmer, by Arnaud Alessandrin and Marielle Toulze, Double Ponctuation editions, 146 p., €16
Undisputed star of French pop, Mylène Farmer has reworked her standards in Remix XL in collaboration with electro musicians like Feder and The Magician, and more unexpected artists such as the British Théo Hutchcraft (Hurts) and the director David Lynch. The artist re-recorded his voice in the studio on some of the 21 tracks presented, including Disenchanted, Libertine, Without counterfeiting, Provided they are soft…
Mylène Farmer also becomes a subject of study in the human sciences, like Jean-Jacques Goldman, recently deciphered by Ivan Jablonka. Arnaud Alessandrin, gender sociologist at the University of Bordeaux, and Marielle Toulze, who teaches information sciences at the University of Saint-Étienne, are both fans of the singer. They look at his texts, clips and concerts since 1984, to describe how social issues “can be translated into a pop universe with particular references”.
Sociologists study its audiences, with around a hundred interviews from which they have drawn significant testimonies. We retain that of Paul, a retired Breton farmer, who finds that “Mylène refocuses him on himself.” As for Lara, 51, head of the maintenance team at a high school, she sees it “above all as a poet”. Exciting.