Isabelle Antena:
En Cavale:
Hoping For Love:
Les Disques du Crepuscule:
Out Now:
9/10 + 8/10
After Penelope Queen's debut album I'd Rather Be Naked appeared in May 2013, also the inaugural CD release on the newly-revived boutique imprint Les Disques du Crepuscule, her mother Isabelle becomes the subject of the label's first reappraisal of one of its biggest-selling artists.
Initially one-third of electro-samba trio Antena, singer and songwriter Isabelle Antena issued her first proper 'solo' album in 1986. Entitled En Cavale - 9/10, the nine-song set reflected the singer's renewed interest in matters Chic, Sister Sledge and Nile Rodgers - and it shows. There's a stunning cover of the Sledge's Easy Street, as well as slap-bass heavy funk workouts such as Life Is Too Short and the superior brassy Magic Words. Further afield, there's cosmopolitan pop in the shape of Be Pop and How Can They Tell and a slight nod back to the earlier bossa chops of her previous band on Playback and the delectable Seaside Weekend.
What truly stands out on this album, apart from the strong songs, is the production, the musicians and Antena's vocal harmonies. Firstly Martin Hayles, one of Britain's most-under-rated yet polished producers of his time (he'd worked on Orange Juice's crossover album Rip It Up and would go on to work with Billy Bragg, Van Morrison, Shara Nelson and Will Young, as well as further work with this lady), turned En Cavale into sophisticated hit-material, if only someone would have listened.
Only Booby Trap is perhaps a tad too kitsch, but the remaining eight songs are pin-sharp, none more so than the swish lounge-jazz epic Ten Minutes. Perfectly orchestrated and professionally played, with feeling I might add, the album's centre-piece is as good as it gets. It's no wonder that her fan-base had spread to Japan where she was voted Best International Female singer at the Tokyo Music Awards (the BRITs of their time), beating Whitney Houston and the not dissimilar Sade into the bargain. Extra tracks include prime b-sides Don't Think About It and Blow The World Away, an early version of Time To Work and a smattering of work by Antena the group.
The follow-up album Hoping For Love - 8/10 appeared in 1987 and, frankly, failed to capitalize on the promise of its predecessor - not because of the material and not due to the production (Hayles sat in on two cuts here), but partly down to the low-key promotion in the UK and the disparate nature of the album's construction. Side one is comprised of (mainly) quality soul-pop, some sung in French, some English, while side two was a pointer towards where Isabelle's future explorations lay at the time - bossa nova, vintage jazz and Latin bop.
Hoping For love could be seen as a transitional album or a showcase of Antena's broad repertoire - either way, the chosen singles failed to stamp any authority with radio stations (even in English) and the album, wrapped in a sleeve that belied the warm, classy Hot Club thrum of its contents, died a death. Shame - it's rammed with jewels, not least the entire second side from Le Poisson Des Mers Du Sud to Otra Bebera. Slip on the second half of this CD and you could be transported to the Med, lapping up le soleil, supping a tall cold beverage and having your loved one apply another coat of factor 50.
All-in-all, both have enough to be considered as perfect summer soundtracks.
Her eleventh album, the double CD Easy Does It/Izzy Does It (8/10) has also been re-released.
For more details, head to the new Les Disques du Crepuscule website here
En Cavale:
Hoping For Love:
Les Disques du Crepuscule:
Out Now:
9/10 + 8/10
After Penelope Queen's debut album I'd Rather Be Naked appeared in May 2013, also the inaugural CD release on the newly-revived boutique imprint Les Disques du Crepuscule, her mother Isabelle becomes the subject of the label's first reappraisal of one of its biggest-selling artists.
What truly stands out on this album, apart from the strong songs, is the production, the musicians and Antena's vocal harmonies. Firstly Martin Hayles, one of Britain's most-under-rated yet polished producers of his time (he'd worked on Orange Juice's crossover album Rip It Up and would go on to work with Billy Bragg, Van Morrison, Shara Nelson and Will Young, as well as further work with this lady), turned En Cavale into sophisticated hit-material, if only someone would have listened.
Only Booby Trap is perhaps a tad too kitsch, but the remaining eight songs are pin-sharp, none more so than the swish lounge-jazz epic Ten Minutes. Perfectly orchestrated and professionally played, with feeling I might add, the album's centre-piece is as good as it gets. It's no wonder that her fan-base had spread to Japan where she was voted Best International Female singer at the Tokyo Music Awards (the BRITs of their time), beating Whitney Houston and the not dissimilar Sade into the bargain. Extra tracks include prime b-sides Don't Think About It and Blow The World Away, an early version of Time To Work and a smattering of work by Antena the group.
The follow-up album Hoping For Love - 8/10 appeared in 1987 and, frankly, failed to capitalize on the promise of its predecessor - not because of the material and not due to the production (Hayles sat in on two cuts here), but partly down to the low-key promotion in the UK and the disparate nature of the album's construction. Side one is comprised of (mainly) quality soul-pop, some sung in French, some English, while side two was a pointer towards where Isabelle's future explorations lay at the time - bossa nova, vintage jazz and Latin bop.
All-in-all, both have enough to be considered as perfect summer soundtracks.
Her eleventh album, the double CD Easy Does It/Izzy Does It (8/10) has also been re-released.
For more details, head to the new Les Disques du Crepuscule website here
