Le danger offers a mix of playful electro-pop and tender, reflective melodies about love and life.
I want to live in the lush world that Evelyne Brochu occupies in her records. The Montreal-based actor and musician’s heavenly electro-pop brings to mind the simple luxuries that dull harsh realities: putting on a sweatshirt straight from the dryer; a lazy Sunday spent reading a good book; collapsing into the arms of the person you love after a hard day. “There’s so much aggressive and decisive energy, I think that a little bit of tenderness is quite delicious,” Brochu told me when promoting her 2019 debut record, Objets perdus.
Like her debut, Brochu seeks out tenderness on her second record, Le danger, with singer-songwriter Félix Dyotte by her side – the album’s producer and arranger. For the most part, Le danger is full of upbeat and playful melodies that are punctuated by bouncily played keys and a dusting of glittery strings. On top of this sonic dreaminess is Brochu’s breathy vocals (sure to make you blush), which add even more lushness.
Despite this softness, Brochu and Dyotte manage to avoid making a weighted blanket of a record. Brochu takes our hand on the playful “Paris,” a love letter to the city and excitedly leads us through the streets. We are unfettered and alive. The buoyancy of “Paris” flows into the following track, “François,” as Brochu comforts a friend and offers these loving words of encouragement: “Tout ira mieux, François.” Brochu is wide awake and wants everybody to see the beauty in the world.
All of this positivity and gentleness feels odd for an album called Le danger, but Brochu and Dyotte do suggest that they are not always wide-eyed optimists. “Le risque” pairs moody and opaque instrumentals with Brochu’s meditations on a past relationship, while the title track has a ghostly waltzing melody that, again, is full of relationship anxiety. So Le danger is not always an escape, but then highlight “Quand je danse” comes on with its flickering and danceable pop melody, and Brochu reminds you how freeing dancing can feel, so you put your arms in the air, close your eyes, move to the beat, and forget your troubles.
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