BACK TO THE MOON (vinyl)

Description

"Ten years after forming his supergroup Supersonic, launched into Sun Ra's orbit, saxophonist-singer Thomas de Pourquery takes the helm of the flagship once more, with Back To The Moon marking its third takeoff. We encounter Mingus, a love story, E.T., Caetano Veloso in Kikongo, a robot, and epic songs. Aim for the Moon." "EXPLOSIVE POWER" --- LE MONDE ---. "THE SIDEREAL TRANCE OF THOMAS DE POURQUERY & SUPERSONIC!" --- FIP ---. The flagship Supersonic was assembled in 2011, six decades after Sun Ra launched the album Super-Sonic Jazz, claiming to have arrived from Saturn. The group is therefore celebrating its 10th anniversary, a longevity not so common with a loyal squad: Thomas de Pourquery is still flanked by Laurent Bardainne, Fabrice Martinez, Arnaud Roulin, Frederick Galiay, and Edward Perraud, a dream team whose names have long appeared, as leaders or sidemen, on projects that explode the boundaries between jazz, progressive rock, elaborate pop, psychedelic funk, contemporary, electronic, African music, etc. – the list is endless when it comes to erudite creators curious about everything. Thomas de Pourquery & Supersonic Play Sun Ra (2014) and then Sons Of Love (2017) captivated audiences and critics alike, providing the fuel for live performances where the sophistication of compositions and the virtuosity of soloists combined with eccentricity and communion, in an atmosphere of a great pagan mass. Never two without three, the epic could not stop there. Back to the Moon, then. As far back as he can remember, Thomas de Pourquery has always been passionate about astronomy, as much as he has been intoxicated by journeys – terrestrial or spiritual, if not cosmic. Space and wide-open spaces propel Back To The Moon with all the more force since the pandemic has grounded us. But the album's genesis precedes the crisis. It draws some of its inspiration from The Bride, a short film directed in 2018 by Vincent Paronnaud aka Winshluss (co-author of Persepolis with Marjane Satrapi) that features Supersonic in a post-apocalyptic zombie-haunted world, with a soundtrack by the group in a fusion of noise. It also incorporates the collaboration initiated in 2018 with Congolese musicians, following concerts given in Pointe-Noire and Brazzaville. Finally, the compositions are imbued with a love story concomitant with their lyrical exaltation. This was before a virus disrupted this enchanted trajectory. The lyrics, written during the first lockdown, sometimes invoke light at the end of darkness, between surrealism and futurism – Pourquery cites Federico Fellini and René Barjavel as possible influences. Recorded in July 2020 at the Parisian studio Question de Son, captured in live conditions but refined in post-production and mixing, Back To The Moon therefore takes off with the introductory Take-Off, then reaches cruising speed with Joy, which suggests the serenity of an interstellar orbit, on a melody to be compared – inadvertently – to John Williams' theme for E.T., Steven Spielberg's extra-terrestrial. This is followed by Back To The Moon, the lunar landing after which the crew seems to pick up the radio frequencies of a bebop theme. Interspersed with three miniatures where butterflies flutter, the journey alternates between a meditative track (Jungle), a march sliding towards Mingus (Wolf Smile), an epic ascent (I Gotta Dream), a discussion with a robot (Venusian Boys), a pop hit (Yes Yes Yes Yes), and a twilight song (Bring Me Back The Day), as well as a stunning cover of Caetano Veloso (O Estrangeiro) with two Congolese percussionists and lyrics in Kikongo sung by Berléa Bilem – "If you cannot communicate with another world, change your behavior," she essentially says. The enumeration gives an idea of the richness of such an album, listening to which one experiences the exhilaration of weightlessness. This space opera, which wraps cosmic adventure in poetry and lyricism, clears the horizon of our hampered lives. Light at the end of the tunnel, Back To The Moon can then be read with another translation: with our backs to the Moon, facing the Sun.