(GOT) EVERYTHING TO SHINE (vinyl)

Description

With their third EP, entitled '(Got) Everything to Shine' on Humpty Dumpty, Saudade Experiment writes a new chapter in its history. - - It's all in the experience! At a time when the band led by Junior Bokele won the final of the Concours Circuit in Brussels - this was in December 2018 - they already offered a unique universe, tinged with groove, soul and jazz, but they were still called Saudade. The problem, as it would become clear over time. 'That name was used by other artists everywhere, and it created confusion, for people looking for us on the Net, in some festivals when promoters mentioned a Spotify that wasn't ours but that of a big metal band! For promotion alone, all that wasn't very positive.' And, at the risk of repeating: it's all in the experience. 'For us, live is not just 'consuming' music. It's trying to live it, to digest what is written as well as the compositions, to get into it and understand the atmosphere, the concept, to be able to truly adhere.' This is what Junior calls 'food for your soul', and that's why today, Saudade, after two EPs already ('Flowers and Dust' in 2018 and 'Ikigai' in 2019), has become... Saudade Experiment. You said 'band'? Let's agree on the definition... according to the singer and composer: 'While I've always written, the contribution of the musicians around me is real in terms of playing and artistic proposals. The Experiment is somewhat this concept of a collective. Even if they come, go, and eventually return, I remain the heart of the project, but they also bring their story, into the music. Their experience.' '(Got) Everything to Shine'. A record, explains Junior, influenced by the British scene and its total freedom in artistic expression: 'I lived in England, in London, for three years. I was 19 then. While the culture there had always interested me, I was shocked to see so many people dressed so differently. Someone with a punk look working at Gucci was normal. I recognized myself in this freedom because I come from a cultural mix. Artistically, I am as inspired by hip hop as by soul, jazz or rock, and there, I was able to find a place without seeming strange by my tastes. And that's what allows me today to play what I play with Saudade: uncompromising music.' Music to be lived, then, because it speaks of emotions. After all, that's what the term 'saudade' also evokes. 'The idea is not specifically for me to be in the narrative or in the explanatory,' Junior Bokele adds. 'There is no wrong answer, everyone feels it according to their experience.' Always the experience...