Peau
Première Mue

The «nouvelle vogue» of French electronics? A rising star of the darkest trip-hop, sweetened by the French tongue? Or, if we must be generic and go for resemblances, the French response to Portishead?
I don't think we need to go that far to describe the album of this young lady, who apparently has no (or had no!) reviews in Italian (if you find one, let me know).

Peau, like the skin, caressed by the notes of this album. And not just the skin, but also the mind and the heart.
Peau, young and promising. Semi-unknown in Italy, but on the path to international breakthrough.
I discovered her completely by chance, reading a review of hers (in French, of course) in a free magazine distributed on a TGV heading to Paris. I decided to listen to her, and I didn't really expect her to impress me so much. From Grenoble, she is here with her debut album, where she timidly intertwines English and French (mostly the latter), building small yet fascinating pieces of intimacy, in a universe made of contrasting images, breaks, and velvety spirals of pearl-grey color (like her photos, constantly illuminated by dark and decadent shades).
A voice that's enveloping but not too much, more of an intimate kind. And that's exactly the word to focus on. Peau digs into the listener's intimacy, makes you want to light some candles and listen to the album on headphones, surrendering to its notes.
Someone said this girl is a kind of balance between opposing currents, between strength and fragility, neither angel nor demon; certainly, one can't dispute this interpretation, given that all her music plays precisely on this effect, on chiaroscuro, on a delicacy that becomes edgy when it can and must.

The first song is a sign of these opposing visions, and the video made by Perrine Faillet to pay tribute to them is a perfect example. Hers is a visual music, made of images glued together as if they express the flow of music and the divergence of rhythms in the brain. Like when in the video of the title track she shakes her head to the sound of a drum machine, and her twin is covered by mud that disappears by itself to transform into liquid steel and a series of broken clips, then destroyed, then reassembled.
But if this title track refers more to trip-hop, it's in the slower songs that the spirit of the young Frenchwoman emerges, like in “Litanie du coup de foudre”: her whispered voice, narrating the words of Jacques Rebotier, becomes soul and sentiment of an obsessive and sharp arpeggio, whispered itself and escorted by piano clicks and choirs that bring forth strange and dark ghosts of the past. Not just electronics then: also a hinted electric guitar and a timid drum sustain a rhythm that is like the current of a small river, slow and slightly sweet, but managing in its purpose to drag the listener along. The music then swells, in a natural crescendo that contrasts with a singing that becomes increasingly oppressive, like the emotions of those who listen. Be careful though, for its more emotional side is never direct, but always subtle, as if it never wanted to shock and hit the listener in the face, always winking at catchiness, however complex and never banal.
Violent sweetness.

There are also catchier episodes, like “Kyle” or “Sensuelle”, where the melodies created by the intertwinings of arpeggio and voice can be enjoyed with pleasure until the end without ever boring. Her edge and coherence, her dreamy arrangements, and that delicate old-time romanticism convincingly delight. She pops her head out from her native Grenoble, with that face like an Eastern Bjork, and creates a wavering universe, constantly balancing between bleakian visions tainted by a soft techno and a graceful guitar intimacy, between rock brazenness and a touch of paranoid chaos and “trip” (the experimental “Breathe”).
The only off note is the slightly more inauthentic episodes, like “Enola Gay”, certainly beautiful as well but in my opinion ruined by a certain “rock cheerfulness” that clashes a bit with the rest of the compositions (at least in my opinion, someone might find it instead a strong point).

Overall, a successful and decidedly inspired album, although still unripe, which gives hope for the artistic future of this original and visionary singer-songwriter. Recommended to all lovers of electronic music, trip-hop, “feminine” rock and French songwriting, I have no doubt it can make you enjoy minutes of pleasure while waiting for a more mature album and deserved attention even beyond the borders of overseas.

As they say in similar cases, beautiful and talented (subjective opinion...)