One of the highlights of this first weekend at Les Francos is undoubtedly Malaka, the French sister duo of Guadeloupean descent. Composed of Sasha and Laurina, the group wrapped up their short tour of the Quebec province at Les Francos’ Pub des Brasseurs.
With their distinct yet complementary voices, they interact beautifully on stage with a touching chemistry. I couldn’t help but think of the duo Ibeyi—those Franco-Cuban twin sisters based in France—as I discovered their world. Along with their percussionist Timothée Faure, they manage to immerse us in the gentle sounds of soul and folk, as well as in more rhythmic and percussive Caribbean beats.
One plays guitar, the other bass, and they switch instruments at times, which adds to their versatility. They chose to kick things off with “Malaka Maï.”
“I like to get things moving with people I don’t know—I’m going to dance for you,” Sacha tells us before singing and dancing around his sister and across the stage. Their latest EP, Mang, features English, French, and Creole lyrics, with themes ranging from identity to embracing one’s roots.
Timothée’s calabash makes an appearance on a few tracks, emphasizing the Caribbean sounds, while the audience is invited to join in by making bird noises during one of the songs.
They performed a track from their debut album Maï, titled “Tino,” but it was especially during the song “Ulo”—on which they collaborated with Brazilian singer and musician Flavia Coelho—that the audience moved closer to the stage to dance. In fact, festivalgoers were even treated to a zouk dance lesson, before wrapping up with a dance segment set to gwoka music to close out the show—all presented with excellent staging.
Remember that name—we’re likely to be hearing a lot more about it in the years to come.
Photo: Frédérique Ménard-Aubin
