BLEU

O’aro’s voice is breathtaking, heartbreaking. Gentle, but with great power behind it that occasionally erupts in a shocking flash… Her music has been a revelation. An enigmatic mix of classically inspired jazz, chanson and the maloya of her homeland, La Réunion – the latter often present only in the subtleties of voice and rhythm, but sometimes taking whole songs in its swirl. There is a darkness in the beauty, with unsettling sonic atmospheres reflecting the songs’ disturbing topics. But it is beauty nonetheless.

BLEU is O’aro’s third album; 2020’s wonderful Longoz, was made with a sparse trio completed by Teddy Doris on trombone and Bino Waro on percussion. The sound is bigger now: O’aro adds piano for the first time, and the trio is expanded to a quartet with the ‘machines’ of Brice Nauroy, which include electronic sounds, effects, drones and elements of musique concrète. Overdubs create trombone choirs and interweaving vocal lines, but the group retains the intimacy of a chamber ensemble. Her accompanists are inspired, but it is songs with just O’aro and her piano, that are the most affective and touching. O’aro continues to go from strength to strength.