Almost 10 years later Human warmth (2014), the name Christine & the Queens is no more than a landmark in the vast world of popular music. In recent years, we have seen the artist leading this sophisticated pop project change its name several times as it rebuilds its identity. He – this is his chosen pronoun – now calls himself Red, short for Redcar, the name under which he released his previous album last fall.
His identity trajectory dyed Paranoia, Angels, True Love, an ambitious album both in terms of its duration (1 hour 36 minutes!) and the extent of the musical universes explored. Its song roots sometimes point (the beautiful Flowery Daysfor example), but Red generally unfolds with much more panache, drawing on stripped-down R&B or atmospheric rock, while integrating elements reminiscent of trip-hop (the rhythm of I Met An Angel).
You have to buckle down, rather give up, to fully enjoy this work in the almost lyrical sense of the term. Paranoia, Angels, True Love is indeed a narrative project swollen with sadness where it is a question of loss (the mourning of his mother, in particular) and of rebirth, of pain and redemption, themes among others associated with gender identity. “Take my hand and forget that I am just another woman/Even though you see me you’ll never let me be your boyfriend”, he sings in Full of Lifeseated piece on the theme of cannon by Pachelbel.
The collaborations of Madonna, who we guess interested in the identity and aesthetic affirmations of Red, are not particularly striking. She is content with narrated passages that are sometimes difficult to grasp, but we must admit that there is something symbolic in seeing the pop icon who embodies the recovery of self-support supporting Red in her own way. The fact remains that the star of this disc is Red, an amazing and touching chameleon singer, capable of romantic sweetness as well as touching, almost incantatory thrusts.
Pop/Song/Rock/R&B
Paranoia, Angels, True Love
Christine & the Queens
Because/Universal