LES ENFANTS DE MALDONE (vinyl)

Description

A primal, visceral power, a furious defiance, inhabits the woman who forges her own path, straying from the straight and narrow. Melissmell's voice is the voice of a survivor, an artist who knew the streets and the identity of the homeless. From there comes this cry, both powerful and vulnerable, that makes her a truly unique artist on the French scene. Accompanied by Christian Olivier (Têtes Raides), Denis Barthe (Noir Désir), and Matu (Indochine, Mano Solo), she returns with an album that is nothing short of a fiery manifesto. This fourth album is stubbornly courageous, uncompromising in its pronouncements, full of decisive and cutting choices. It opens with "Notre siècle a 20 ans," a lament about the lack of radicalism and protest often attributed to youth. Here, Melissmell relies on her loyal partisans, FRANCOIS MATUSZENSKI, known as MATU (formerly keyboardist for INDOCHINE and MANO SOLO, among others), and GUILLAUME FAVRAY, an idea transformer and indispensable accomplice of "Apache" words. Together, they mold language according to their own rules, moving from harshness to a beating heart, from warnings to condemnations. Other faces, other collaborations united by the same ideals, strengthen the solidity of this precious core. There are THE OGRES DE BARBACK, whose generous instrumental expertise permeates half the album. There's IMBERT IMBERT, who lugs his double bass on "La prière aux croyances inversées" and dips his pen into "Putain de Miracle," a cry of revolt sparked by the Charlie Hebdo attacks, unfolding through a notorious beating inflicted upon God. There's CHRISTIAN OLIVIER, in a duet and author of a text of resistant geography ("Rue d'la chaussée"). Finally, there's DENIS BARTHE, a figure from NOIR DESIR and a winking drummer hinting at a possible sequel concerning the enigmatic hero who appears twice on the band's second album (Joey III). The same Joey, a name with intimate resonances for the young woman, found again in the heartbreaking "L'étoile du berger." There is also a tribute to NINA SIMONE, a haunted introduction tipping into crackling lyricism ("Petite chanson du maquis"), a final trance on a diabolically rock track ("Animale"), and the celebration of memory and her musical heroes ("Pigalle"). Above all, there is the conquest of a free-flying song, with evocative and multifaceted emotional power. A voice of hope and despair. A voice of clearings and storms. A visceral voice of diffuse tenderness. A penetrating and troubled voice. An essential and salvific voice.