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Gigi French is officially back with her album La Boue, available October 18, 2019 on Coax Records (Rae Spoon, Quantum Tangle, Geoff Berner). Double bass, saxophone, vibraphone, percussion, guitar and classic raspy vocals together create a magical world with songs inspired by the French bistro tradition, combining improvised jazz, pop, folk, swing, classic analogue recording and socio-political ranting to give a “modern vintage” feel.
The incredibly versatile Giselle Webber is the mistress behind Gigi French. Known for her knack to reinvent herself, she has led an array of projects since arriving in Quebec in 1999. She rocked as the front lady of Hot Springs, incarnated the militant rapper Giselle Numba One, and is the head of a gang in Orkestar Kriminal who interpret in eight different languages criminal tunes from the 1920s and 1930s. In Gigi French, Giselle sings about her experience of living in Quebec, dans la langue de Marjo.
With her hybrid mix of Quebecois and “tête-carré”, Gigi French tells us the bitter-sweet tales of Quebec life from an outsider’s perspective. She also sings of her fantasies, her fears for the future and her deep love of nature. Throughout “La Boue”, Gigi reflects on leaving Montreal for a rural Quebec environment where she voices her anger about a number of heavy topics, like the poor who will lose their house to the claws of greedy lenders, the video lottery addict, the depression of the unemployed, the sacrifices of a single parent, dubious paramilitary hunting practices, the moldy apartment of the starving artist, the high education levels of certain immigrant taxi drivers, the struggles of people who deal with mental illnesses, domestic abuse, the link between welfare recipients and government corruption scandals, as well as some dark and introspective love songs, to balance things out proper.
La Boue was recorded live to tape at Montréal’s Hotel2Tango studio by Grammy award-winning engineer Howard Bilerman (Leonard Cohen, Arcade Fire, Godspeed You! Black Emperor) with whom Giselle also co-produced Orkestar Kriminal’s Tummel, which won a GAMIQ award for “Roots Album of the Year” in 2015.
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Track List:
1. Chasseur
2. Maga
3. Corps en dedans
4. Taximan
5. Loto-vidéo
6. Le Bon Fou, Roméo
7. Talons haut
8. Grand Jack
9. La Boue
10. Vert et Mauve
11. Madeleine
12. Dernier Amant
13. Guerrière
14. Ta Guit, qui traîne
15. Chien sale