Rose Cacahuète
2015? It's just so last year. So let's kick-off in earnest with an up and coming singer-songwriter from la belle province of Québec who I'd hope to hear a lot more of over the course of this year... We'll gloss over the fact that her record almost got buried amongst last autumn's releases...
Rose Cacahuète hails from Trois Pistoles in the Bas Saint-Laurent region of Québec and her four track demo is inspired in-part by her new life in a commune alongside fellow artists and activists. In fact "L'attraction du bas du fleuve" relates how Rose quit University to live amongst this creative community on the southern banks of the St Lawrence river ("...I was supposed to find myself an apartment in Hochelague, (but) I stayed stranded in the lower river...") and found herself in this creative oasis - "...Un coin de paradis au bord de la rivière..." / "...A paradise by the banks of the river..."
For the most part his is an EP of gentle, melodic folk songs - just Rose and her disarming Québecois accent alongside gently strummed acoustic guitar. The EP's opener, "Crazy glue" touches on the trials and tribulations along the often rocky road of love - Rose liberally applying glue to fix the things that get broken along the way - while "Sucre à l'état pur", which as the title suggests is a rather beguiling number that touches upon those sweet moments of infatuation and the crazy things people say when they're in love; "...Je t'ai embrassé sur les paupières, Parce qu'on n'embrasse pas assez souvent les yeux, Je t'ai fait manger du chocolat, Même si à l'habitude t'en mangeais pas ..." / "...I kissed you on the eyelids, Because we do not often kiss eyes, I made you eat chocolate, Even if I don't usually eat you..."
However it's with "Psychosée" that the hairs on the back of my neck start to stand on edge. This is an altogether darker number with an air of menace that bubbles ominously just below the surface. The song's challenging and confrontational stance reminds me of some of the themes portrayed by Magdalen's "En vers et contre tout" as does Rose's deep rasping vocals. If ever there was a demo track that deserved the full studio treatment, this is probably the song. It's also a song which strongly suggests that Rose - whose song-writing is one way that she deals with her emotions - has visited some dark places.
"Rose Cacahuète" is available - as are so many great songs from Québec - on Bandcamp, on a pay what you like basis. Trust me, this EP is well worth the price of a skinny non-fat caffeine-flavoured beverage from your local neighbourhood coffee shop... And far more wholesome.
"Rose Cacahuète" (Bandcamp)
Rose Cacahuète hails from Trois Pistoles in the Bas Saint-Laurent region of Québec and her four track demo is inspired in-part by her new life in a commune alongside fellow artists and activists. In fact "L'attraction du bas du fleuve" relates how Rose quit University to live amongst this creative community on the southern banks of the St Lawrence river ("...I was supposed to find myself an apartment in Hochelague, (but) I stayed stranded in the lower river...") and found herself in this creative oasis - "...Un coin de paradis au bord de la rivière..." / "...A paradise by the banks of the river..."
For the most part his is an EP of gentle, melodic folk songs - just Rose and her disarming Québecois accent alongside gently strummed acoustic guitar. The EP's opener, "Crazy glue" touches on the trials and tribulations along the often rocky road of love - Rose liberally applying glue to fix the things that get broken along the way - while "Sucre à l'état pur", which as the title suggests is a rather beguiling number that touches upon those sweet moments of infatuation and the crazy things people say when they're in love; "...Je t'ai embrassé sur les paupières, Parce qu'on n'embrasse pas assez souvent les yeux, Je t'ai fait manger du chocolat, Même si à l'habitude t'en mangeais pas ..." / "...I kissed you on the eyelids, Because we do not often kiss eyes, I made you eat chocolate, Even if I don't usually eat you..."
However it's with "Psychosée" that the hairs on the back of my neck start to stand on edge. This is an altogether darker number with an air of menace that bubbles ominously just below the surface. The song's challenging and confrontational stance reminds me of some of the themes portrayed by Magdalen's "En vers et contre tout" as does Rose's deep rasping vocals. If ever there was a demo track that deserved the full studio treatment, this is probably the song. It's also a song which strongly suggests that Rose - whose song-writing is one way that she deals with her emotions - has visited some dark places.
"Rose Cacahuète" is available - as are so many great songs from Québec - on Bandcamp, on a pay what you like basis. Trust me, this EP is well worth the price of a skinny non-fat caffeine-flavoured beverage from your local neighbourhood coffee shop... And far more wholesome.
"Rose Cacahuète" (Bandcamp)
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