Following the great Belmundo Regal adventure, which allowed Radio Radio to travel from Europe to Mexico and the United States, the trio found inspiration in Lousiana, in a chalet named Floating Light, as well as under a starlit sky, near a lake in Nova Scotia. From the reflection of the stars on the water, evoking a spaceport, emerges the group’s third opus, Havre de Grâce.
Havre de Grâce is without a doubt Radio Radio’s most eclectic album yet. With the help of musicians encountered over the course of the past five years, the band came up with a refreshing fusion of rap, acid house, blues and country. In Louisiana, a magical place where the locals’ and Radio Radio’s universes coexisted symbiotically, accordionistHorace Trahan brought a festive touch, typically cajun, to the song Y’en a qui connais. On the other hand, Acadian poet Georgette LeBlanc, winner of a Félix-Leclerc award, lends her voice to Galope’s very catchy chorus. Elsewhere, we can hear the work of Karkwa percusionnists Julien Sagot and Stéphane Bergeron, Mamoru Kobayakawa(guitar, bass, piano, vocals) and Eloi Bertholet (drums, sax, vocals) as well as the voices of Poncho French andPierre Kwenders.
As Radio Radio explains, this album is synonym of a grand return home, of comfort:
Through the sea's turbulent winds, we see a warm light on the horizon, a deep and peaceful space calling us. The Havre de Grâce hauls us with its magnetic force, its natural caress.
It is time to catch our breath, to feel each pore open and close, each vein flowing into infinity. At the end of lost paths, broken-down pendulums, endless days and nights, the cards are laid out on the table. It is time to sit down around a fire in the chiefs' smoke. The body, like a battlefield, regains its strength in the eyes of the sacred light. Salt on skin, revival calling us and mirage now reality, it is time to reconnect at the Havre de Grâce.
Havre de Grâce marks the beginning of a new exhilarating odyssey. The ultimate destination remains unknown, but one thing is sure: get ready to celebrate once more with Radio Radio in 2012!
MORE ABOUT RADIO RADIO
Since their first releases Télé Télé EP (2007) and Cliché Hot (2008), Arthur Comeau, Gabriel Louis Bernard Malenfant and Jacques Alphonse Doucet haven't ceased to impress journalists and public alike with their hip-hop/electro-flavored catchy hooks. After being short-listed for the 2010 Polaris Music Prize for their second album,Belmundo Regal, the Acadian trio has won many awards, such as an Independent Music Award for Rap/Hip Hop Album (2011), a Miroir for Best Hip-Hop/Urban Performance at the Festival d’été de Québec, a Félix for Producer of the Year with Sébastien Blais-Montpetit and a Révélation Musique 2010-2011 Radio-Canada title. Over the past few years, Radio Radio has become a must-see act, having cumulated performances at, amongst others, the FrancoFolies de Montréal, the Festival d’été de Québec, the Festival International de Louisiane, SXSW, CMJ Music Marathon as well as numerous festivals in France and Belgium.