PRICE:
$32.00
IN STOCK
ARTIST
TITLE
Oui
FORMAT
LP+CD

LABEL
CATALOG #
BEC 5156896 BEC 5156896
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
6/16/2017

Camille presents Ouï, her fifth studio album. Recorded over a year in La Chartreuse, a 14th century monastery-turned-artist's residence in Avignon, France, Ouï is a cornucopia thrumming with folk, hymns, ballads, pop, lullabies, and breathtaking a cappella. "The story of the album is like this, moving from the arcane drums" -- percussion is used throughout as the bedrock -- "to the treble and harmonics and light in my voice." An instrument of exhilarating range and phenomenal power, Camille's voice provides all the vocal parts on Ouï. Co-produced by Camille with two of her longtime collaborators, composer and multi-instrumentalist Clement Ducol and sound and mixing engineer Maxime Leguil, and featuring the Moog analog synthesizer, Ouï is a work with a pulse. "It really resonates," says Camille, "On some songs there are no drums, just this sub-bass like a kick drum, which leads the way and gives it a beat." While she sets out to write politically charged songs inspired by drum-driven French traditional dances, reflecting upon the country's recent, tragic events, she was equally led to something peaceful, vowel-oriented, and vibrational in her exploration of sound. The latter explains the album's title. Becoming a mother for the second time also had a bearing -- "Having my children made me want to dive again into the spring of life, of love, of sound. All this mothering has led me to an approach of fluidity." "Fontaine Du Lait", the album's first single, with its flute sounds and arrangements that overlap, evokes this concept of fluidity. Two traditional French music pieces play their part in "Je Ne Mâche Pas Mes Mots" and "Twix", whilst "Seeds", the album's only English language song, is about reaping what we sow. "Lasso", with its uneven rhythms and lyrics about throwing, spinning but never quite catching, and "Sous Le Sable" is an ode to a mysterious woman who lives below the sand. The French language and the magic of sound dominate Ouï. It also pays tribute to Camille's father -- "My father was a singer and whilst he didn't do music for a living he definitely showed me the way. This is the first time he won't hear a new album of mine, which is maybe why I called it Oui - Ouï - like 'heard'. I wanted to make something so vibrational, so beautiful, that he can hear it where he is." Blue, fabric-covered, gatefold sleeve; Printed paper inner-sleeve; Includes CD.