Redcar les adorables ¿¿toiles

by Rahim C Redcar, Christine and the Queens

Overview

Few artists understand the power of persona like Christine and the Queens' Redcar. On Chris, he used it to express a potent, present sexuality, cementing his place as a pop innovator along the way. On Redcar les adorables etoiles, he creates something more ineffable, melding sensuality and identity into a magical, inspiring sense of self. It's fitting that his first work as Redcar -- a name emblematic of passion and continuous motion -- begins a new chapter of self-realization. He described his third album as a rock opera, and aside from moments such as the euphoric closing track "Les ames amantes," it rarely feels like a collection of discrete pop songs. Its pensive opener "Ma bien aimee bye bye," which bids farewell to Redcar's old self and greets his new one with a circular melody worthy of a folk song, hints that this will be less immediate fare than Chris. It's a feeling confirmed by "Combien de temps." A funky, slow-motion testament to love's power to stop time in its tracks, it never loses its confident thrust over its eight-and-a-half-minute expanse. The album's scope and flow feel connected to La Vita Nuova, the first music Redcar made in the wake of his mother's 2019 death. Despite its brevity, that EP had a striking cohesiveness that Etoiles builds on with its mystical fusion of synth pop, dream pop, and R&B and its images of stars, knights, and eternal love. Along with "La chanson du chevalier," which drifts in on moonlit synths and drifts off on a bewitched flute melody, "My Birdman" and "La clairefontaine" offer a fantastical sensuality filled with possibilities. Though Christine and the Queens' live shows have shaped Redcar's music since the days he performed with drag queens, out of all his albums this one sounds the most like a performance. Echoing swaths of synths suggest a stage embellished by colorful spotlights and fog machines, while vocals leap across each song like choreography. Redcar's voice is truly liberated on Etoiles, whether he's singing from the heart and gut on "Tu sais ce qu'il me faut" and "Je te vois enfin" (one of the album's finest statements of purpose) or adding a more delicate warmth to the icy elegance of "Les etoiles." As much as he pushes forward, his gift at making songs that sound like embraces remains. "Rien dire," "Memoire des ailes," and "Looking for Love," a trio of songs celebrating and yearning for the eternal connection between lovers, hark back to "Tilted" in their tender pulse and how they capture universal emotions with tiny details. Artistic development and self-discovery are endless journeys, but Redcar les adorables etoiles' vulnerability, confidence, and imagination often feel like a culmination of Christine and the Queens' work. By not forcing Redcar's music into a pop template when it doesn't fit, the album reaffirms him as a resolutely independent artist and makes another fine addition to a nearly flawless discography. ~ Heather Phares

Product Details

Release Date:	11/11/2022
Label:	Because Music
UPC:	5056556105992

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Ma bien
2. Tu sais ce qu'il me faut
3. La Chanson du chevalier
4. Rien dire
5. La Clairfontaine
6. Les étoiles
7. Mémoire des ailes
8. Looking for Love

Disc 2

9. My Birdman
10. Combien de temps
11. Je te vois enfin
12. Angelus
13. Les âmes amantes

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Christine and the Queens   Primary Artist
Rahim C Redcar   Primary Artist
Vincent Taeger   Percussion
Sylvain Daniel   Bass
Adrian Edeline   Guitar

Technical Credits

Fox Charles   Composer
Turino Vanni   Cover Painting
Pierre-Ange Carlotti   Photography
Rahim C Redcar   Composer,Producer,Interpretation
Chab   Engineer
Mike Dean   Mixing,Mastering,Mixing Engineer
Teddy Osei   Composer
Charles Fox   Composer
Norman Gimbel   Composer
Jean Philippe Talaga   Graphic Design
Vincent Taurelle   Engineer
Ash Workman   Producer
Prinzly   Composer,Producer
Michael Tontoh   Composer
Christine and the Queens   Composer,Producer,Interpretation
Heloise Letissier   Composer
Ponko   Composer,Producer
Claudia De Held   Composer