CHANTAL ACDA - The Whale

As Donna Haraway would put it, there are many companion species accompanying Chantal Acda on her new lyrical and musical journey: dolphins, seahorses, a whale, forests of seaweed, a brooding cat, her own dog reflected in the Moon. After all, to navigate the chaos, the pain, and the senselessness of the tragedies unfolding before our eyes, it's essential not to find yourself alone in a struggle for resistance that seems impossible to sustain. And perhaps it's no coincidence that the Belgian singer-songwriter keeps nurturing her network of relationships, choosing to record "The Whale" together with the band that has been accompanying her on tour for years.

So while the perfect rapport between the musicians and the artist comes as no surprise, what's remarkable is how Acda's songwriting always bends, empathically, adapting itself to each different collaborative context. Just a year ago, on "Silently Held", she blended folk and jazz together with the Atlantic Drifters; now, instead, the singer-songwriter makes full use of her band's potential, crafting a sort of stylistic compendium of her entire repertoire, alternating delicate ballads, airy arrangements, jazzy counterpoints and sudden, unexpected swerves into indie and post-rock territory. In fact, not since "Disappear", the song she made with Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker, had Acda fully immersed herself in a distorted, more granite-hard sound. The new "Heads" and "Make It Work", however, don't just recover that rock backbone: they push further, infusing it with the grand, choral dimension of the boldest compositions on "Pūwawau".

Yet it's the title track that stands as this new album's small lyrical and musical masterpiece: a metaphorical dive capable, for a moment, of calming the dark storm raging above the sea's surface. Perhaps, by looking closely into the whale's eye, we can truly find the strength to keep fighting for a fairer world for everyone. And if there's one thing this singer-songwriter's music never stops reminding us, it's that to feel closer and more connected to other people's pain and needs, all it takes is to try holding hands.

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16/10/2025