Almost two years ago, when tidying up his loft in his hometown of Lille, Red came across a CD with makeshift electronic tracks from the Felk era. It was the push he needed to launch a follow-up, seventeen years later. Felk Moon opens with the voice of his daughter Margot, aged three and then twenty, to mark the passing of time. The work continues with hypnotic, fragile, lofty, slow and seductive songs undergirded by melancholy untainted by bitterness as he pays tribute to departed friends (including the late Tonio Marinescu who long worked with him as a drummer).
With his deep and gravelly crooning reminiscent of Kurt Wagner (Lambchop), his makeshift outsider art electro, his Swell-like love of acoustic guitars and noisy, improvised slides, Red is back with his best, working alongside Quentin Rollet (Bisou Records) on the next instalment by the Rectangle label that distributed Felk. Using the same idea as for The Nightcrawler (2011), Felk Moon is an insane opportunity for the singer to illustrate the vinyl sleeves by hand, in a standard or sanguine edition.
This is true artistic craftmanship and an exciting opportunity.
BIOGRAPHY
Beginning with the decadent rock ‘n’ roll of La Cuve in Annecy, Olivier Lambin’s slow transformation into Red began in Rennes when he met freestyle saxophone player Philippe Tessier. It started with a live album at Le Jardin Moderne, entitled Noël Akchoté vs Red (1997), before recording Felk at home in Villeurbanne, distributed by Rectangle in 2000. Concerts and recognition followed, and he released Song from a room in tribute to Leonard Cohen, and then 33 (2002) featuring numerous guest artists. He continued to flirt with the world of musical improvisation (Akchoté, Pauvros), releasing Nothing to celebrate (2006) with duets featuring Laetitia Sheriff and Bonnie Prince Billy, followed by Hide and Seek (2008). He then released a solo album, The Nightcrawler aka Red (2010), and created the concert film Séville 82 (2011) before founding the futuristic funk band Bodybeat in Lille (two albums). With Felk Moon, the insatiable, genre-defying and generous Red is back to his first acoustic love.
DISTRIBUTION
Guitares, machines, voix et composition : Red (Olivier Lambin)
