Something unusual is happening at the Bibi Club. It has been seen in Bourges, in Brussels in recent days, almost everywhere in recent months in Europe, it was already evident in the fall in the United States. Whether the tandem is raising the curtain or headlining, it’s the same observation. Beyond the undeniable success, in addition to praise in major newspapers and specialized media (until Mojomazette!), there is… the most beautiful silence.
“Quite an incredible quality of listening,” marvels Adèle Trottier-Rivard, with a big smile on her face and wide eyes. His companion, Nicolas Basque, adds, without boasting: “In the United States, we were the opening act for Blonde Redhead, the public had no idea who we were, and each time show, after two songs, we felt the attention, we saw the iPhones disappear, the rumor of conversations faded. ” Really ? ” Really. We can’t believe it. »
Let’s talk about a return of strained ears, of fixed gazes, of a true collective desire for discovery: the music and melodies of the Bibi Club resemble nothing known, escape references and comparisons. Nicolas confirms: “I had the impression that our sense of risk, as well as our proximity as a couple with a child on tour, meets a need. » We have the same feeling when listening to this entire second album entitled Guard light : there is no floor, we are almost constantly out of balance, we don’t know where the songs will lead, we are drawn into a movement that is both terrifying and exhilarating. “The current of the river / Keeps us far from the bank / The strong current keeps us away / I can no longer see the bank”, sings Adèle in The guides.
Get lost together
” In these shows, continues Nicolas, we almost only did our songs in French, and this English-speaking audience always seemed to understand exactly the intention. We recognized each other as human beings. » Adèle sums up the feeling: “It’s as if, without really realizing it, we had touched something universal. Our tunes have something that has undoubtedly remained with me from the scout songs of my youth, a lot of unison, words that we repeat together to encourage each other, to walk, to continue, at the risk of getting lost in the forest , but not all alone. »
Electro-folk scout singing for young adults who know nothing about scout songs: that’s a bit like Bibi Club. Pieces of resistance for a hypersensitive generation in search of solid bonds in a broken world where certainties fall on all sides. Literally, the music created instinctively by these adventurous lovebirds never ceases to fade, the guitars flow, everything slides, we can only be reassured by singing the songs.
The islets of rest
Only two of the eleven titles, You Can Wear a Jacket or a Shirt And Nico, both in English in the text, are songs in the usual sense of the term, based on guitars that respond to each other, quiet islands in the general flow. Respites between the whirlpools and the rapids, we are tempted to understand. “I think these songs help us go further,” Adèle reflects out loud. “It’s not intentional, but it’s true that these are peaceful songs, moments of observation. » Oases of well-being. Safe parks. “ I see some kids smoking on a bench / You can talk to them they’re nice », she sings against a backdrop of flute and delicately strummed guitars. “ I touch your face/ I feel the rain / We can walk and take our time…”
“When you have the impression that everything is falling apart in our lives, in our cities, we have to react, but we also have to carve out spaces to rest, sit on the grass », comments Nicolas, still steeped in the spirit of the group he comes from, Plants and Animals, and his twenty years of music to escape. Note that the small Bibi Club family lives in the middle of an urban area. “Under the planes / Under the heat / In a corridor of dust / We walk, towards / Home”, sings Adèle between heavy and threatening notes in SATURDAY / the bed. “We don’t live far from Crémazie,” she explains, “with its river of cars…”
Go out, whatever happens
The analogy of the river and its falling rocks, of the forest that is oppressive and beneficial at the same time, the scout echoes and electronic rhythms, is a way of surviving the city: this means that there is perhaps a way out, as long as we risk “crossing in a stroller”, as Adèle says, relayed by Nicolas: “At some point, you have to go outside. Live. Jump into the water. That’s what we do. And the more we do it, the more of us come across each other. » Adèle adds: “It’s not just going outside to go outside. It is the need to find ourselves in our heads, bombarded with information and drowned in the media flow. »
Going outside, Bibi Club tells us, is going towards people. Make them more available. The iPhone closed, all senses alert. Adèle and Nico, it is notable, most often sing in unison (or in octave): is this the sound of a possible union in this improbable century? The Bibi Club’s global audience seems to hear it.