FONTARABIE

This strange new outfit called Fontarabie does not come from nowhere. Its leader, Julien Mineau is also leader of the band Malajube. I am a fan of the Montreal Indie Rock band Malajube since their second album "Trompe-l'oeil" back in 2006, which was named "revelation of the year" by the American magazine Spin, and in the top 10 of best album of the year by the New York Times.

In fact, as a huge fan of prog (and many other style) I felt that tendencies towards explorations and progressive rock in general in many songs of Malajube. So it makes sense that it was placed in the "Crossover Prog" subgenre. But in my opinion it is much more than this.

Retired since the break of his group, the creative force behind Malajube accumulated pieces that push the boundaries of his talent as a composer. In the world of Fontarabie, the musical fantasy of Julien Mineau bumps to halloweenesques and atmospheric universe of Tim Burton movies.

The first thing that strikes listening to Fontarabie is that it is more orchestral than pop. The musician has gone mad. Strings haunt each songs, the atmosphere is mysterious, sometimes heavy and sometimes light.

The use of the celesta (which was use a lot by Tchaikovsky) creates phantasmagorical contrasts. Like a music box playing gentle melody but ready to explodes. The sea is calm, then unleashed. Resolutely classical and instrumental pieces mingle with other more pop (Larve humaine), where Mineau explores his favorite themes (the unexplainable, love, disease) with its vaporous and incandescent voice.

The album sounds like nothing heard before. After 14 songs, when we toured the garden, listening again is irresistible. A work of art that we have not finished discovering all the beauties.