Maison Maquis

This third album by one of France’s leading avant-pop bands is as whacky and genre-defying as the name the two artists give themselves: Sages Comme des Sauvages, or Wise/Well-Behaved as Savages. Ava Carrère and Ismaël Colombani are well-travelled artists whose repertoire draws essentially from the Berlin cabaret world and classical violin experience, respectively. But Sages Comme des Sauvages mix in a bold exploration of musical culture from Zimbabwe (‘L’Inverse (feat Stimy Stimela and Blessing Chimanga)’), Greek-Algerian conversations with composer Sofiane Saidi (‘Pos Eghine’) and Occitan folk sounds of San Salvador (‘Saint Martin L’Olive’), to name but three of the 11 seductive tracks on Maison Maquis. Top this off with the co-production of the Afro-Cuban electro maestro Dakou and you have one of this year’s more unexpected records. Carrère and Colombani are the fulcrum in a musical experience which creates a niche between the cool and the popular, the poetic and the engaged, the unexpected and classic. Non-Francophiles miss out on the biting lyrics, unfortunately. Maison Maquis spotlights stories of France’s downtrodden and angry populations who showed their venom in the country’s recent elections. But the sheer musicality of Sages Comme des Sauvages’ two harmonious voices fronting styles from the four corners of the world more than compensates.