French-Canadian performer Chloé Pelletier-Gagnon, who goes by the name Klô Pelgag, has recently released her fourth album, Abracadabra. It’s a pleasant album with healing qualities that remind me of Enya. Unhelpfully for this review though, that doesn’t mean I think Pelgag sounds like Enya. She doesn’t. It’s just that the meditative aspect of Abracadabra has some kid of kinship with the atmospheric Celtic singer and composer.
It’s actually a lot harder to review than most albums, partly because it’s all in French and I have no idea what she’s actually singing about, so I have to go merely on the broad soundscapes that are presented here, and it has to be said, it does feel like you’re being gently cleansed by beautiful, mythical maidens in the purest waters of a lake somewhere on a mountainside. I’m not quite sure what that says about me, but hey.
‘Libre‘ ups the tempo a little, however, transporting us to the dancefloor with a flamboyance that summons images of some of Roisin Murphy‘s most dynamic work. I wish there were more songs like this on Abracadabra actually, not that the others aren’t nice enough, but it’s the ones with a bit of oomph to them that hold the most appeal. That said, the likes of ‘Lettre à une jeune poète‘ and ‘Les puits de lumière‘ appears to show the more vulnerable side of Klô Pelgag, and there’s something very seductive about that, but it’s still those more bullish moments, for example on the Madonna-ish ‘Deux jours et deux nuits‘, that really make a impact.
So, as I’m at a loss as to what else to say about Abracadabra, I’ll tell you what – I’ll google translate some of the lyrics from the sleeve of the record and see how deep this stuff goes, because, you know, it feels deep. Here we go then…so, ‘Jim Morrison‘ has lyrics that translate thus: “My feet hover in the air, under the branch of a tree in the cemetery. I see Morrison’s grave. However, I expected to see no one / When I run, a current of air carries me further towards a desert. There’s no one here waiting for me. Here I inspire no feelings.” Later on in the same song, she sings: “If you were wondering where I am, I’m spinning in the Ferris wheel. I will never reach the end. I’m afraid I won’t go crazy enough.”
Sounds pretty profound to me. A very pleasant listen.
