Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The original is often overlooked, perhaps being seen as too avant-garde, too ahead of its time and all because people are not ready for it; it is of course understandable, not everything can be appreciated in the time that it comes out and like the lost property of a person who loses something very special, something that so few have seen or found on their travels, the chances are that it will turn up in Lost Property unscathed and unharmed, the population not ready for such possibilities of greatness.
To take a chance on the original can be the most rewarding experience, it can open up the mind to new possibilities and keep the senses from finding the way closed and relegated down to the simple and what is already felt, the comfortable rolling around in clover as the unheard lives a frugal and meagre lifestyle.
The original is abundance in Kate & Raphaël’s Les Objets Trouvés and yet it is one that is steeped in the tradition laid out for them, the mix of French sophistication and the lightness of the touch employed by Kate Young’s voice, the creative melodies and ready spontaneous charm, all make this debut album an attention-grabbing and thoughtful set of musically canvassed stories.
Imagine staring at your favourite painting year after year, you see the colour, the time taken and the measure of the artist behind it, imagine seeing it all its glory and weeping at the intricacy of the depth of work thought out and knowing that the artist never got the full recognition. Then out of the blue, one day you discover there was another section of the painting, unseen for a hundred years, a piece of the artistic puzzle which makes it more alluring to the naked eye; it is in that sense of what was lost now found that makes Les Objets Trouvés so captivating.
In tracks such as Jardin De Pamplemousse, Tanz Tanz Tanz, Grey Blanket and Cutty Wren, Kate Young and Raphaël Decoster play as if what was lost had only been hidden from view, there is no need for the hysterics, for the forms to be signed, this is the property that was always on view, it was just too original to be seen all at once until this fine pair brought it to the listener’s attentions.
Kate & Raphaël’s Les Objets Trouvés is released on June 17th.
Ian D. Hall