Interesting, the evolution of Salebarbes over the past four years. After a first album consisting solely of songs from the Cajun repertoire, then a second from the same waters in which slipped some original compositions, the happiest group in town is back with a third album, this time written from end to end.
The result is confusing: the five Salebeards have mastered their classics so well that they have managed to write 11 songs that already seem to be there. Zydeco, honky tonk, rockabilly, Cajun, country, they rub shoulders with the music of their Acadian roots while respecting all the codes which, we agree, have proven themselves over time and which still work like a ton of bricks.
There’s of course also the Salebeards touch, like the fabulous harmonies, the use of traditional instruments, the subtly different dressing of the rooms and the passing of the baton as lead singer: everyone goes for at least two songs , Jean-François Breau, Jonathan Painchaud, Kevin McIntyre and Georges Belliveau, a spectacular violinist whose brilliance hovers over the entire album. Only the director Eloi Painchaud is more “discreet”, so to speak – he indeed plays like his friends on a host of instruments, and his flights on the harmonica are epic.
With his energy levels always at their peak – sometimes you’re literally blown away by the projection of their voices, like on the mind-boggling rock ‘n’ roll song Ces Oiseaux-là – and his avowed desire to just give people a good time – the last piece, Faut tu jeux pour les pieds, sums up their thinking well – Salebarbes arrives with another successful album, perhaps his best.
On the other hand, we want to challenge them for the next one, because given their immense success, we don’t see why there wouldn’t be others. By drawing their inspiration from the traditional repertoire, the themes addressed are in keeping with it, the inconsolable heartbreak, the chaotic couple’s relationship, the somewhat candid love quest, the bottomless drinker (joyful or not). Next time we would like to see them get out of this shackles, adopt new angles, explore contemporaneity in writing… while continuing to make us dance. So, the order is placed.
