CLÉMENTINE MARCH - Powder Keg

Bold. The third album by Clémentine March, a French artist based in London, shakes up pop themes that intersect Beatles and Stereolab, Os Mutantes and Isaac Hayes: the result is one of the most stimulating and unpredictable chamber-pop projects of recent times.

Choral in scope despite the trio lineup – rounded out by Ollie Chapman (bass) and Sophie Lowe (drums) – and richly bolstered by a host of notable guests – Katy J Pearson, Naima Bock, Alabaster DePlume and Dana Gavanski – "Powder Keg" is a record that turns eclecticism into a source of creativity, thanks to a set of songs as original as they are unwilling to bend to pop aesthetics.

Each song carries its own idea, in an obstacle course that, rather than aiming to dazzle, tries to draw the listener in through clever harmonic and instrumental choices. The sophisti-pop and jazz nuances of "After The Solstice" are a fitting calling card for Clémentine March's intentions, and it's hard to believe that as many as thirteen voices were used for the finale, where the author's own voice remains dominant and solemn.

Despite the elegant opening, the remaining songs indulge in dizzying Stereolab-style digressions ("Lucie"), Brazil-psychedelic pop lightness ("Lixo Sentimental") and disco delights that raise the album's alcohol content with disorienting horn interjections and Evelyn Grey of Tapir! duetting with Chic in mind ("Fireworks").

Reports say Clémentine March drew the album's title from Jim Steinman's song written for Bonnie Tyler, "Total Eclipse Of The Heart": this might partly explain the thunderous presence of a lopsided rocker like "Upheaval" or the irrational funky-jazz groove of "Symptomatique". Either way, it's clear that for the songwriter, music is a material as malleable as it is unpredictable.

Free-wheeling and seemingly without rules, Clémentine March moves effortlessly between Tom Waits-style country ballads (the poignant, dissonant "Honestly"), elegant, melancholy Mitteleuropean waltzes ("Les Années"), 70s folk echoes ("You Are Everywhere") and Celtic-soul tracks built on complex harmonic solutions (the title track).

"Powder Keg" is a record that stands as proof of pop music's artistic malleability, a collection of songs that references Rita Lee, Kid Creole and David Bowie as though they all belonged to a single sonic lineage. And if you still have doubts or reservations about the real potential of this Anglo-French singer, give the next seven minutes and twenty-two seconds over to the seductive, enigmatic textures of "The Power Of Your Dream". The disenchanted vocals, the unusual bossa nova tempo and the mischievous yet elegant touch of saxophone will grant you a moment of pure abstraction and sonic enchantment: waking up from it will feel like coming out of a trip.

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25/02/2026