Cat O’ Nine Tails

The path of least resistance would be to define the music that Patrick Flegel releases under the name Cindy Lee as a mix of psychedelic pop, a gothic sensibility (“Our Lady of Sorrows”), and more avant-garde experimentation. However, things are more complex, as this project is also the scene of a deep questioning of identity. The accompanying notes are more revealing in this respect than the music itself. In a heartfelt text downloaded with the disc, Flegel addresses what he considers to be the slavery of our identity prisons, which are themselves built on the wounds of our youth, and the spiritual healing necessary to free ourselves from them. A vast program, but reading this manifesto-like text offers a better understanding of the relationships between the various elements that coexist on Cat O’ Nine Tails.

The guitars drowned in reverberation, the strings, and the melancholic atmospheres represent an idyllic past that would be revealed to an observer seeking to revisit it with the aim of re-establishing its emotional truth, as well as its disturbing and uncomfortable dimensions. Thus, there’s a discrepancy between the comfort of this sunny pop with ’60s tendencies, and its interrogation through various experiments and perturbations, as if a world of appearances would crack before us.

The pop and more experimental sides alternate and are almost never superimposed. The mysterious beauty of this melancholic pop thus benefits from a space and a contrast that enhances it. A great success, especially considering that the previous album, What’s Tonight To Eternity, was released barely two months ago.