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Artist: Paris Combo
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Paris Combo:

Tako Tsubo

"Tako Tsubo", the lounge-tinged title track of Paris Combo's new album, is inspired by a rare condition known also as the "broken-heart syndrome" - thank goodness Paris Combo have the cure! On their new record, the chanteuse Belle du Berry leads us through a deliciously varied collection of musical atmospheres, ranging from the intimacy of the live combo to more lush orchestral settings and beautiful 60's retro a` la Bacharach with near-psychedelic overtones.

The lyrical leitmotif of this new album - suggested by the song titles, « Mon Anatomie », « Spe´cimen » « Ane´miques Maracas », ID d'Heidi », « Profil » - is the human physique and the way our emotional and physical beings interact with each other. Songwriter Belle du Berry indeed sees the human body as kind of « machine », capable of feeling, permutating and expressing an infinite gamut of emotions.

"Over the course of five albums, the Paris Combo has fired the imagination of anyone who likes their music cool, continental, witty and more than a little mysterious". - Boston Herald

Paris Combo, as diverse and sophisticated as the city from which they hail, have garnered critical acclaim and an immense following for their unique me´lange of colourful cabaret, elegant jazz, gypsy swing and sassy alterna- pop, and here again, a combination of musical influences underpins the infectious, toe-tapping grooves which have become their hallmark. The album adds to the group's already fabulously cosmopolitan musical palette and will only enhance their already considerable global attraction. 

Paris Combo:

5

Music in general and jazz in particular can be easily stereotyped based on everything from country of origin to instrumentation. In short...it would be like assuming all Republicans are evangelical Christians. I've only set foot in a church twice in the past decade for a wedding and a funeral which is essentially the same event happening simultaneously. So much for that theory...

Paris Combo 5 shatters the traditional concept of what some consider the Paris sound with a myriad of influences including the alluring vocals of Belle du Berry. Smoldering just beneath the surface there is an accessible Europop vibe, adventurous riffs, and swinging grooves that are carefully mixed with Latin, African and rumba rhythms all tightly woven around the tapestry that is the French cabaret sound. Paris Combo 5 is a return to the studio after a four year hiatus and is arguable one of the finest groups to come out of France in thirty years. (Note there are certain solo artists intentionally excluded from the group or ensemble setting).

A conceptual release? Sort of...Multi-conceptual as the lead vocals of Berry concentrate on love at first sight, love lost, broken love and well...you get the idea. A more conceptualized global jazz undercurrent flows beneath the vocals transcending genres and elevating this quintet from the ordinary to the extraordinary. While one need not be fluid in French, the language of love combined with the universal language of music leads to an eclectic ebb and flow that has their audience growing globally which is of little surprise.