After several collaborations with her mentor Marc Déry, including the 2016 pop-folk album Semi-liberté, the androgynous-looking bassist/singer Mademoizelle Philippe entrusted the production of her most recent chapter, Aimant, to Francis Collard, best known for his sophisticated pop work with Ariane Moffat, one of Mademoizelle’s main influences, in addition to those of Metric, Salomé Leclerc, The Beatles, Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails – and, of course, Marie-Pierre Arthur, from whom she sometimes seems to borrow the way she modulates her vocals.
“Pop melodies and rock attitude”, one can read on social media about the artist and her second album, for which she used a visual aesthetic that M (Matthieu Chedid) wouldn’t mind.
A fitting way to describe this artist, who took part in Les Respectables’ 15-year anniversary concert at the Bell Centre, and to illustrate the musical content of this new opus.
An album that could have been released in the 1980s or ’90s, bearing lyrics that are often impressionistic quite but coherent, perhaps thanks to Gaële Tavernier, who oversaw the whole, revolving around the notion of attractiveness.
Gaële’s new album, for instance, features a title track on which she plays the role of sociologist, illustrating the phenomenon of magnetism that certain rock stars, such as Bowie and Jagger, exert on crowds. Groovy, catchy and often carnal, Aimant is a bit like an ice cream cone with two colourful balls: sweet, energetic, festive, joyful and very accessible. In short, cheerful without being surprising.
