Teradélie – ZaZen

In the mood for something different? Teradélie is a French artist, who hopes to bring you into an other dimension, which she calls Cosmogony. She creates all the songs and music by herself. As musical references she states Laurie Anderson, Kate Bush, Björk, Anne Clark and David Sylvian. Perhaps you can add Jarboe or Diamanda Galas (though less extreme). These are varied influences, who all share the trademark that they are rather singular, at the borders of avantgarde. The main instrument of Teradélie is probably her voice, which she bends into many directions, sounding at times poetic, mysterious, powerful or sultry. In some songs she is singing rather sweet, in others she is using a more aggressive spoken word. Most of the lyrics are in French, a language which I personally like to hear in music. “Trop de haine, pas assez de l’amour!’ seems to be the message, with quite some engagement.

The music that accompanies her voice is interesting on its own, rather electronic and very diverse. Sometimes the music is more in the background, at times suddenly getting dominant. Sample collages, layers of soft ambient, jazzy elements and danceable beats are being alternated. There are a few instrumentals at the beginning and the end of the album. Some of my favourite songs are the nice lullaby ‘Au moulin de tes reves’, ‘Tigres de papier’, ‘Déference’ and Facteur X Cosmogonie (with some jazzy breakbeats). I don’t like all (parts of) songs, but that is not surprising with so much variation.
A rather special album by Teradélie, a promising artist with a strong voice, who can not be easily put into a clearly defined genre. She is constantly exploring the boundaries of different styles, which does not make every song easily to consume, but which creates a challenging journey on this album.

artist: Teradélie
label: ZaZen Productions
details: 16 tracks