The Breakdown
The fact that guitarist / n’goni player Maël Salètes and harpist Mélanie Virot have been releasing albums as L’Étrangleuse since 2012 is down to much more than endurance or stubborn self-belief. These dynamic, probing musicians have always got something new to say and invariably exciting ways of saying them. Their intertwining string tones, raw, bluesy, chiming and dramatic plus a rootsy, 75 Dollar Bill percussive vibrancy has consistently been the basis for their desert rock-post punk-French folk music to develop. Strange to think then that after album three, 2019’s ‘Dans Le Lieu Du Non-Où‘ the outlook for L’Étrangleuse became a little more uncertain.
Despite bringing drummer Léo Dumont on board with plans to expand the group as a live trio, the lockdown and two years of enforced stupor de-railed that idea. At the same time Salètes quit his other long term group commitment as guitarist with Geneva’s rock fusionists Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp and looked to step up his collaboration with Lyon based, Somali singer Sahra Haglan, having played on her 2016 debut ‘Faransiskiyo Somaliland’. It’s a gig he is still involved with, writing and riffing on her impressive latest release, but the pull of making L’Étrangleuse music is clearly strong. The proof of that long term creative bond between Salètes and Virot comes in the shape of their new album ‘Ambiance Argile’ out now on La Curieuse/Compagnie 4000.
L’Étrangleuse 2024 style retains the flavours of both French and West African tradition in the mix but, with Dumont’s drums and the addition of bass player Anne Godefert, the sonic scope of the band has opened out. In the words of Jon Spencer as a four piece L’Étrangleuse now has “extra width”. Opening track Le Remède captures the thrilling impact of the extended band letting fly as they hurtle into a fast afrobeat chug. The momentum is shaped by Salètes insistent n’goni pattern, upfront and uplifting, while the vocal chant has a post punk meets trad folk feel, so assertive and deceptively choral. L’Étrangleuse maintain the high gearing for the edgily frantic Ironie du Sort, bottling up the energy until it gushes out in a burst of full-on guitar driven release. The song’s impressive, a raw thrill close to hearing a soaring Bassekou Kouyate for the first time.
What’s clear throughout ‘Ambiance Argile’ is that the braiding of Mélanie Virot ringing harp lines with Maël Salètes n’goni and electric guitar has lost none of its shine. Both players seem to know how to coax more from each other and in the context of L’Étrangleuse’s new set up that intensity has increased, especially as Godefert and Dumont don’t seem intent on being bystanders. That’s not to say the music isn’t deliciously tight but you can feel the adrenaline flowing through the quartet as each track unravels. Listening to the album you can imagine a L’Étrangleuse gig and it’s no surprise to find that the foundations of this fine document were recorded straight over two sessions.
Given the spontaneity of the recording process you might expect the band to concentrate on their n’goni powered, afrobeat extensions but ‘Ambiance Argile’ shows that the L’Étrangleuse soundscape is intriguingly fluid. Sure the Malian and Celtic folk influences are part of their DNA and Salètes time in Bamako with griot master Abdoulaye ‘Kandiafa’ Koné will always resonate but this is a band that aim to stretch out beyond the restraints of straight fusion music. Take the dark almost gothic instrumental Filu’e Ferru which throbs dangerously as the guitar rips into a raging desert blues melody line. It’s like Mdou Moctar fronting The Bad Seeds while Nick Cave skulks about moodily somewhere. Ornières boosts the heaviness up another notch, surprisingly taking a thunderous agit-punk sound charged with congotronics toned guitar to a coda of twinkling scales and lush vocal harmonies. Somehow L’Étrangleuse make this work.
Despite their obvious range, the band generally keep the album framed within a song structure. Closing track Etat Normal, after a dissonant, bowed guitar stir, eases into a breezy , uncluttered sixties folk pop brightness. Here the delicate shading of Virot’s harp adds drama and the intuitive balance of her shared harmonies with Salètes feels reassuring. This vocal partnership could easily be overlooked in all sonic excitement on ‘Ambiance Argile’ but it’s another element that gives the album its bounce and verve. For evidence look no further than the ridiculously catchy Les Pins, a slice of fine pop with a global beats underpinning. There’s a touch of Tuneyards syncopation here, personalised by the group’s blended voices, the familiar Salètes n’goni propulsion and Virot’s kora-like resonance.
With the lyrics of Les Pins and also the brief acapella track Pas De Mort being translations of poems by early twentieth century Slovenian poet Srecko Kosovel, you get some indication of the rigor and thought that goes into L’Étrangleuse work. Elsewhere Salètes is the chief wordsmith seemingly probing our place and power within the natural world (there’s references to clay and pines, ruts, fate and so on). Serious stuff then but presented by the band unpretentiously and with a wry avant-rock awareness. Perhaps La Distance Des Noix best sums up the fine balance that L’Étrangleuse maintain on this album, dreaming in the forest’s voice, imagining a different end and setting it to a quirky, jangling ethio-jazz shuffle with a passing nod to David Byrne’s surrealism.
So far this year there have been a string of fine albums from underground/alt rock units from Europe and beyond like Meril Wubslin, Cyril Cyril, Hyperculte and Sanam. These bands appear to swerve any interest in trends or self-regard, perspectives that restricts so many in the indie scene. Now we can add another name to this inspiring roster – L’Étrangleuse. Their new album ‘Ambiance Argile’ is right up there.
Get your copy of ‘Ambiance Argile‘ by L’Étrangleuse from your local record store or direct from Compagnie 4000 HERE
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