Fievel Is Glauque - Rong Weicknes (2024) [Hi-Res]

First things first—yes, the band Fievel Is Glauque is named after the plucky immigrant mouse protagonist of the animated film An American Tail. The French word glauque, meanwhile, can be used as slang for "sleazy." Multi-instrumentalist Zach Phillips has explained that the moniker is a "post-hoc rationalized interpretation" that somehow translates to the gentrification of sleazy places. Sure, why not? More satisfying is the music Phillips, based in New York City, makes with singer Ma Clément, who lives in Brussels; nothing is lost in translation between their weird and wonderful jazz-pop, influenced by artists as diverse as the Cocteau Twins, Annette Peacock, MF Doom and Carla Bley (some more conceptual than literal). For their third album, Rong Weicknes—a goof on "wrong weakness"—Phillips and Clément brought in musicians from each of their home countries as well as Canada: guitarist Thom Gill, bassist Logan Kane, percussionist Daniel Rossi, woodwind player André Sacalxot, drummer Gaspard Sicx and Chris Weisman on guitar and electric sitar. The initial vibe, on opener "Hover," is theatrical jazz-pop—Weimar cabaret style, culminating in a head-on collision of moody sax, crash-around percussion and muscle-bound piano. There's also something incredibly visual about the music of Fievel Is Glauque. With skittering beats and jaunty flute, "As Above So Below" comes on like the feel-good theme of an early '90s sitcom about a single girl discovering her place in the busy city, replete with a requisite funky breakdown. "It's So Easy" burbles like retro Japanese city pop, punctuated with vivid horn flourishes like the "Bam!" or "Pow!" of a superhero comic. Likewise, "Kayfabe" is forceful and playful, which is exactly what you want in a song named for a pro wrestling term used to describe the high drama of fooling the audience; at one point, Clément lashes out with fury, and you can practically hear animated flames igniting in her eyes. "My Oubliette," meanwhile, refers to a dungeon with only one way out: through the ceiling (the word is derived from the French oublier—to forget—with the intention that prisoners in such a dungeon would be forgotten by the world). The song, powered by aggressive piano, comes in like a carnival attraction, quickly mellows out into a silky croon, then picks right back up, rinse and repeat. That angel-devil tension also plays out on "Love Weapon," with smooth soul occasionally roughed up by tooting synth and bruising percussion, followed by sax cruising on a low and slow boil. The bright and dazzling title track is hopped up on sugar: frisky lounge piano, hustle-and-bustle horns. And "Dark Dancing" mockingly plays with the ideas of nu jazz and smooth jazz, as Clement pants and plays pop chanteuse: "Open wide!" © Shelly RIdenour

Tracklist:
1 Hover
2 As Above So Below
3 Would You Rather?
4 Love Weapon
5 Rong Weicknes
6 Toute Suite
7 It's So Easy
8 I'm Scanning Things I Can't See
9 Kayfabe
10 My Oubliette
11 Dark Dancing
12 Great Blues
13 Transparent
14 Eternal Irises
15 Haut Contre Bas