The second offering of the Belgian Angèle, Ninety-five, is a continuation of his first disc: well-produced pop tunes, texts that are always catchy without being complex, personal and sometimes engaged themes. Angèle (fortunately) does not repeat herself, but she brings back her winning formula on these 12 new songs and reminds us why we love her.
A few pieces stand out on this record where the rhythms generally keep a fairly uniform color. The melancholy We get used to it, the poignant Storm or the training Demons, for example.
Angèle again pays tribute to her country, begins the album with the piece Brussels I love you, which says exactly what its title says. After having often been on the road to meet the monster success of the excellent Brol, the singer-songwriter marks her return by saying how much her homeland means to her.
It’s certainly not for nothing that the album is not titled instead Ninety five. Not for nothing either that the only collaboration of the disc is with another great pride of the country of Brel, the rapper Damso (on Demons).
She forwards her declaration of love to Belgium with reflections on the embarrassments of being in love (with someone) on several pieces afterwards (Solo, Taxi). It also testifies to the time, does not hesitate to name the difficulties of the last two years in pandemic. What if the song Balance your what made an impression with her feminist speech in 2019, Angèle continues to send social messages through her music. On Storm, she denounces conjugal violence, depicting a fictitious story that she comments on with a sentence as simple as it is evocative: “The last time, it’s several times.” ”
With the lovely Bad dreams, which concludes the album, the musician is vulnerable and honest, tells about her anxieties, with which we can easily identify. Whether she talks about herself or about others, to pop tempos or piano melodies, Angèle knows how to delight us.
Pop
Ninety-five
Angela
Angela VL Records