Robi

I wrote about Parisian Chloé Robineau's 2013 debut album "L'hiver et la Joie" in my album review of that year, while the single from the album, "Où suis je" - a song that featured a stark and desolate post-industrial synth-pop landscape - deservedly featured on the    "2013: Le Mix de L'année française" 8tracks mix.

And now fast forwarding to 2015 and Chloé - or Robi - as she is better known, is back with a brand new album,  "La Cavale", that from the opening bars of "L'éternité" reveals a collection of songs which shares the same dark and brooding themes as its predecessor and is again populated with minimalist synthesiser keyboards, throbbing bass lines and Robi's deliberately monotonic yet hypnotically seductive vocals. Yet half-way through "Etre là" I realise I'm absolutely enthralled by the subtle changes that Robi manages to convey to the song with just some deft inflections to her voice, added guitar and what sounds like orchestral horns (but which I suspect is just programmation); the inherent coldness and unforgivingness of industrial synth-pop is replaced by a yielding warmth.

Indeed, while the overall tone of this album is decidedly melancholic (and "Par ta bouche" is deliciously monochrome), there's an added depth that wasn't apparent on "L'hiver et la Joie." There are also some very clever touches displayed here - a sign of Robi's growing maturity and confidence perhaps - the sparse synth loops of "A toi" are softened by strings - in this case cello - providing both added substance and an analogue mellowness. The deeply resonant bass (that recalls the post-punk sound of Joy Division) and trick spatial effects on the vocals of "Le vent" again highlight a warmth not usually associated with industrial synths. There's also an unexpected sensuality to Robi's voice on "Nuit de fête" that is expertly framed by the song's melody, while "Danser" oozes romance and passion - a solitary spotlight following two dancers as they pirouette across a deserted dance floor...

"Devenir fou" offers another glimpse into Robi's melancholy world, the programming of the synthesisers creates an at times symphony of sound, but here she goes all Mylèneish on us during the piercing cry that is the refrain (and I say this as a huge admirer of L'Ange Rouge). 

The more that I've been listening to this album over the past week, so I'm convinced that "La Cavale" shares a kindred spirit with La Féline's "Adieu L'Enface" as well as adhering to the theory that moderne, c'est déjà vieux and nowhere more so than with the "Le chaos" and the haunting "A cet endroit", the former with its crystalline chorus, the latter and its heavily reverbed guitar, analogue synths and melodic chorus.

The album closes with the title track - repetitive synths and angelic harmonies at odds with Robi's increasingly frantic and breathless vocals, the song seemingly descending into a personal nightmare.

"La Cavale" is a totally captivating and assured collection of songs. It's the perfect album for driving along a desolate two-lane flat top, searing headlights illuminating the dark, waiting for the moment daylight releases us from the night's grasp...

It's also the first great Francophone album of 2015.

Robi Website
"La Cavale" (iTunes), (7digital)