Reste la Lumière

This album starts off, appropriately enough, with a track called ‘Courage’, and the long vocal line supported only by a faint drone certainly displays a musical bravery, with all the listener's attention focused on the voice. And it is the distinctive voice of Angélique Ionatos that is very much at the centre of this recording. Popular in France, her adopted home, Ionatos’ delivery shows at times distinct echoes of chanson, although here she presents a selection of texts by Greek poets (as she has previously done with texts by Odysseus Elytis and Sappho). The combination of the beauty of the texts with a vocal style that sits between Greece and France is generally very effective, a good example being ‘Mes Soeurs Sorcières’. The instrumental sections, largely provided by Ionatos on guitar, are fine when they are given room to develop, the best example being the opening to ‘Anatolie’, while the following track, ‘Habitudes’, has a welcome variation in texture with a more adventurous approach to form.

While the songs are heartfelt and delivered with an admirable degree of commitment, much of the disc feels too similar. The tempo remains fairly constant throughout, as does the vocal delivery and the instrumental backing, and some change of texture or mood would have lifted the experience considerably.