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Artists Chanson Française Melon Galia
| Melon Galia |
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"It's been three years since Les embarras du quotidien was originally released in Melon Galia's native Belgium. The band's slow, steady hike from domestic obscurity to distribution licenses with both the Tokyo-based imprint Pi-Vine Records and Montreal's Grenadine Records hasn't involved the NME or attractive photo kits, but they're still clever enough to throw out a few market hooks -- track seven on their debut album features a blip of a vocal contribution from Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst (perfect for that look-at-me! sticker on the front of the CD), its cuddly liner art, filled with vintage product logos, nods to Stereolab, and the treble half of every breezy duet from the male-female team of Thierry De Brouwer and Aurelie Muller directly references Isobel from Belle and Sebastian.
And although Melon Galia sound nothing like Bright Eyes, Stereolab or Belle and Sebastian, it wouldn't hurt to think of the band as lying somewhere beneath the Atlantic Ocean that separates the three. The sprightly rhythms, baroque orchestrations and off-hand melodies in "Tout le monde d'accord", "L'epaisseur d'un cheveu" and "Les lendemains qui chantent" shine as pleasantly as summer sun on a highland moor, while jazzier minor-key touches in "il ne m'en aura rien couté" and "Au risque de te plaire" keep things tied to traditional French pop. The band isn't afraid to rock out, either: "Jamais je ne mens" lays its Bacharachian melody over a stutteringly quick drum track and a bed of American-indie guitar runs, "Tout le monde d'accord" 's chorus does a bit of shoegazing, and the last half of "il fallait bien" turns up the gain for a dissonant accent before the song slides off to its melancholy end. In trying to place and properly describe Melon Galia, I forgot to add one important detail: they're damn good. Everything about Les embarras du quotidien is impeccable -- its sense of songcraft, its use of orchestration, its sequencing, its balance of old and new influences, its knowledge of when to lay off the sugar and when to add meat instead. If I knew French, I could add the lyrics to the list, but all I know comes from the press release: Melon Galia sing about "the problems of daily life." Good to know, of course, but the often-stunning harmonic interplay between De Brouwer and Muller is enough to keep my attention regardless; a translation would probably just be a bonus. In other words, Melon Galia have enough here with Les embarras du quotidien itself that they don't need to ride their influences or milk certain minimal contributions from other, more famous people. If life has even a shred of fairness left, Melon Galia will continue to cultivate their strong sense of independence and their international fanbase, and we'll hear more from them in the near future." Splendidezine/2003 "Well written and beautifully constructed French pop. Unlike other French artists who write and sing in English...these folks made the intelligent decision to sing in their native language. Les Embarras du Quotidien was first released in the Belgium in 2000 and was only released in North America this year (courtesy of the fine folks at Canada's Grenadine label). Produced in part by babysue favorite John Cunningham and mixed by Mike Mogis, this album is destined to be a favorite all over the world. Melon Galia tunes do not sound like other French pop we have heard. This band works in a more adventurous territory...often incorporating a wide variety of instruments into their music. And their songs are anything but predictable. The band was begun by friends Thierry De Brouwer and Samir Barris who met at the University of Brussels. The pair eventually hooked up with Frederic Van Bever and Aurelie Muller...and the band was born. It is difficult to come up with comparisons here. These tunes are complex, beautiful, haunting, and quite mesmerizing indeed. The arrangements are absolutely stunning. Killer stuff. Highly recommended. (Rating: 5+++)" Babysue/2003 x
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The Melon Galia albums....
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