L'Aurore

You could think of this as a good dance hall disc, a souvenir of a summer's night spent in the middle of a packed crowd at the Blue Moon Saloon in Lafayette, Louisiana, where this five-woman (and one male drummer) multi-instrumental and vocal band played their first full gig. Much like that region's sub-tropical humidity, there's a dusky tristesse suffusing several of this album's ballads, while peppier numbers such as ‘Marier en Secret’ will have you kicking up your bootheels as if you'd had a few bottles of Abita Purple Haze.
The band's name comes from a 93-year-old lyric by Cajun music forebear Amédé Ardoin. Their contemporary approach to Cajun music has Kristi Guillory's accordion, Anya Burgess' fiddle and Christine Balfa's guitar supplemented by a rhythm section, Maegan Berard's electric guitar, and guests playing a variety of instruments, as well as an unexpected string quartet (briefly) and a few electronic effects. It's a challenge for young musicians to write melodies as articulated and satisfying as those heard in the band's rousing take on the traditional ‘Cher Minoux’. But there's a compelling poetry to their original lyrics, including the title-track's tribute to the late Cajun musician Al Berard.