Nour - Apres L'Orage (2017)

Listening Post 178. They can be meteorological or emotional, a vortex of personal, political or technological upheaval or even (nowadays) a whirlwind of Tweets. Storms typically require cleanup, but what about the flip side—the light that’s more lucid, the ungoverned mess that mixes things up, leaving arrangements never before seen but that, just maybe, make logical or absurdist sense? What about fear and insecurity weathered and what we learn from it all? Nour isn’t, strictly speaking, a scholar, but on Après L’orage (After the Storm), her third album, the Swiss singer-songwriter offers an 11-track treatise on redecorated landscapes. She examines life through a tempestuous lens, mixing French chanson, jazz and a bit of doo-wop; random items like forks and windshield wipers, bicycle bells and electric razors, with more traditional instruments; and her breathtaking voice. Is childbirth a storm? Judging by Vol au Vent (Swept Away), the sleepless chaos and unbridled joy of parenting are in harmony with a baby’s busy box (video 1). In the ether between the science of storms and the revolutionary nature of scientific discovery is Lumière Bleue (Blue Light), which Nour wrote for the soundtrack of the biopic Marie Curie, the Courage of Knowledge—and rarely have the lyrics of physics been so deftly applied to the laws of music (video 2). The weightless sensation of love reorders a hard-bitten soul in Si Légère (So Light, video 3); and somewhere between Dada and Disney lies the spark of Rumba des Assiettes (Dinner Plate Rumba), a clang-clang charade of China, glassware, cutlery and coupling (video 4). Après L’orage is an enchanting montage of befores and afters, a prescription for the touch of madness that provides immunity against deep despair. And Nour is the voice of storm/creation, an artist who recycles everyday objects, leftovers and shards into songs of wonder. (Smile Records/Schubert Music/PIAS)

Tracklist:
2:33 | 01. Nour - Sale Temps
4:02 | 02. Nour - Si Legere
3:32 | 03. Nour - Rumba Des Assiettes
4:32 | 04. Nour - Les Horizons
4:17 | 05. Nour - La Blonde
4:19 | 06. Nour - Vol Au Vent
1:51 | 07. Nour - Chanson Pour Un Rasoir (Electrique)
3:25 | 08. Nour - Terrain De Jeu
2:35 | 09. Nour - Le Tournie
5:32 | 10. Nour - Apres L'orage
2:34 | 11. Nour - Lumiere Bleue (Bonus Track)