FREEZE WHERE U R (vinyl)

Description

“AN EXTRAORDINARY VOCAL PERFORMANCE.” ---TÉLÉRAMA---. He had long dreamed of an album that was “very Fred Fortuny, American,” something sparkling, extremely melodic, very natural too — in the manner of the beautiful records written in Laurel Canyon (in the hills above Hollywood) in the 60s and 70s, those sunlit songs by the Mamas and Papas, the Byrds and Joni Mitchell that he cites with passion, just as he would later cite Jimmy Webb, Carole King, and of course the whole New York aesthetic of the Brill Building. So many references perfectly absorbed: Fortuny is not the guardian of a temple closed with double locks, he is one of its most honest and upright heirs, perhaps without even knowing it. She is the most beautiful of the American voices living in France — Brisa Roché, an “all-round” artist, singer, songwriter, writer and painter. Discovered in the jazz circuit (first signed to Blue Note), she then ventured into freer territory (tormented pop, contemporary folk, arty electro-pop), until returning here, in perfect tandem with her friend Fortuny, to her first love: voice records! Songs that come from far away, that come from the heart. A pianist-composer at the height of his art, and a lofty voice, that of a pop princess who sings here, with apparent ease, the most powerful and moving melodies you will hear in 2021. M FOR MELODIES This album is a treasure chest. You have barely finished admiring one of its jewels before the next gem is already catching your eye. Their method? Fred Fortuny first wrote a set of music, themes, elegant choruses. Which Brisa happily validated, stunned by the beauty of the sketches. Then, as often in her practice as a musician, the Californian recorded herself alone. At home, in Paris. One voice, one microphone. Almost improvisation: Brisa starts the music, she goes for it, she launches herself. The strength of her sung melodies lies in this carefreeness, this audacity, this ability to keep “the first take,” the instinctive momentum. And only then did the group head into the studio to record the finalized version: at the legendary ICP studio in Brussels, precisely in studio C, equipped with a 1973 NEVE console. The assurance, with such songs and such musicians, of sounding both vintage and ultra-modern. C FOR CALIFORNIA Why is this album so addictive, so charismatic? Because it seals the meeting of two fiercely independent minds. Brisa the instinctive one is a child of America, but with a decidedly atypical background. She was born in a small house on a beach in the Bay of Arcata, in that hidden, almost inaccessible Northern California that locals call “The Lost Coast,” or else: behind the redwood curtain (“behind the redwood curtain”)... When she was 13, her family lived in the forest, cut off from everything. At 16, Brisa left for Seattle: it was adventure, life whispering in her ear “come on, don’t be afraid, we’ll see what happens...” Could she have become anything other than this jack-of-all-trades artist who ultimately chose Paris as her playground? The fact remains that this hidden California, sheltered from clichés, is her intimate landmark, her refuge. And you can hear it on the album, which has that youthful flamboyance, that inner joy inherited from childhood, a touch of magic that illuminates the most moving works. F FOR FEMININE In the voice, in the lyrics, FREEZE WHERE U ARE is an album by a woman. And perhaps even by women — plural. “The themes I address are those of a whole lifetime, but observed, dissected from the place where I am today,” explains Brisa. “These songs speak of emancipation, lost loves, nostalgia, anger toward men, separation, impossible stories... of pages turning, new pages opening... but I also wanted to evoke our addiction to new technologies and to this virtual world, often so false, which makes us true slaves.” When the time came to interpret these very intimate lyrics, something astonishing happened: behind her microphone, as she began to sing, Brisa Roché suddenly felt connected to those magnificent female voices she listened to on records when she was a child: Carole King, Linda Rondstadt, Joni Mitchell... Voices of yesterday, but which still seem to vibrate through her today. “Sometimes, records make no sense at all. This one has a tail (of a magpie) and a head (crowned). A pianist-composer at the height of his art, and a lofty voice, that of a pop princess who sings here, with apparent ease, the most powerful and moving melodies you will hear in 2021.” --- Emmanuel Tellier for December Square ---.