Cada Magenta
Regular readers may have noted that of late I've been sating my inner indie thirst (LA's the kind of town that will do that to you), but you know that there's nothing quite like the dulcet (if at times undecipherable) tones of Arcadian-French harmonies to soothe this musical beast; So when a delightful five-track demo EP from the Laurentides, Québec duo of Cada Magenta fell into my hands, how could I not give it a spin?
Cada Magenta (or Carole-Anne and Daphnée to their friends and family - the Magenta comes from from the rather bright hair colouring that both girls used to sport... Teenagers, eh?) decided that they weren't cut-out for a career in a punk-rock band and that taking the country-folk chemin was likely to be more rewarding.
Seems they made the right choice, for after some solid gigging around local clubs and bars, the girls have supported Lisa Leblanc and recently released their first record via Bandcamp.
There's a remarkable freshness to the girls' sound and enough musical diversity displayed here to suggest that Cada Magenta have more than enough about them to dispel any worries about being labeled as yet another country-folk act...
...Although the opening track "On nous dit" is actually a rather pleasant upbeat folk-tinged pop song(!) - lively a capella intro, accompanying acoustic guitar and incredibly hum-able... But as soon as the girls' voices come together for the chorus, this song really steps up a gear - the vocalisations may be closer to that of Les Hay Babies but the chorus' natural flow is very reminiscent in style to that of Les Soeurs Boulay.
The EP features two quite beautiful ballads... "Dans ses bras", all sweet harmonies, a simple acoustic guitar accompaniment and the addition of subtle "beat-box" percussion to the chorus; while "Les petits moments" finds the duo vocally sparring before combining in the kind of angelic note-perfect harmony that is again so similar to that of Gaspé’s finest siblings (which from this Blog's perspective is high praise indeed...)
So far then, you could be mistaken that this is in fact just another country-folk collection. However, the EP offers a couple of hints at future musical adventures... "J'aime pas ça la téquila" is a song firmly routed in the "Trash-Folk" style of Lisa LeBlanc - although there's a notably more up-tempo beat - the not-quite synced harmonies and ukulele adding a refreshing grittiness. Meanwhile, "À tous les soirs" is arguably the most adventurous track being showcased. The toque of the strumming guitar and the subtle change in vocal pitch, hinting at the rhythm and passion of Andalusia, suggesting that similar to Marianne Bel, Cada Magenta are quite comfortable tackling a range of differing musical genres.
As befits what is effectively a demo tape, there is a degree of roughness and quirkiness with these recordings. Actually this all adds to the duo's charm, but also reinforces the belief that they probably aren't that far from being the polished article. This Blog for one certainly look forward to hearing the outcome of any full-blown recording studio session...
Cada Magenta (or Carole-Anne and Daphnée to their friends and family - the Magenta comes from from the rather bright hair colouring that both girls used to sport... Teenagers, eh?) decided that they weren't cut-out for a career in a punk-rock band and that taking the country-folk chemin was likely to be more rewarding.
Seems they made the right choice, for after some solid gigging around local clubs and bars, the girls have supported Lisa Leblanc and recently released their first record via Bandcamp.
There's a remarkable freshness to the girls' sound and enough musical diversity displayed here to suggest that Cada Magenta have more than enough about them to dispel any worries about being labeled as yet another country-folk act...
...Although the opening track "On nous dit" is actually a rather pleasant upbeat folk-tinged pop song(!) - lively a capella intro, accompanying acoustic guitar and incredibly hum-able... But as soon as the girls' voices come together for the chorus, this song really steps up a gear - the vocalisations may be closer to that of Les Hay Babies but the chorus' natural flow is very reminiscent in style to that of Les Soeurs Boulay.
The EP features two quite beautiful ballads... "Dans ses bras", all sweet harmonies, a simple acoustic guitar accompaniment and the addition of subtle "beat-box" percussion to the chorus; while "Les petits moments" finds the duo vocally sparring before combining in the kind of angelic note-perfect harmony that is again so similar to that of Gaspé’s finest siblings (which from this Blog's perspective is high praise indeed...)
So far then, you could be mistaken that this is in fact just another country-folk collection. However, the EP offers a couple of hints at future musical adventures... "J'aime pas ça la téquila" is a song firmly routed in the "Trash-Folk" style of Lisa LeBlanc - although there's a notably more up-tempo beat - the not-quite synced harmonies and ukulele adding a refreshing grittiness. Meanwhile, "À tous les soirs" is arguably the most adventurous track being showcased. The toque of the strumming guitar and the subtle change in vocal pitch, hinting at the rhythm and passion of Andalusia, suggesting that similar to Marianne Bel, Cada Magenta are quite comfortable tackling a range of differing musical genres.
As befits what is effectively a demo tape, there is a degree of roughness and quirkiness with these recordings. Actually this all adds to the duo's charm, but also reinforces the belief that they probably aren't that far from being the polished article. This Blog for one certainly look forward to hearing the outcome of any full-blown recording studio session...
Comments
Post a Comment