Boukane

This is the second album from the quartet Lolomis, featuring a line-up of vocals, flutes, harp and drums, although there's a significant (uncredited) electronics input, in both textures and beats. It's a challenge to hem Lolomis into a corner, given their numerous languages, song-sources and stylistic contrasts, even in these days of ever more crazed fusions.

Stélios Lazarou's flutes are at times soft and sweet, at others burred and percussive, but Elodie Messmer's harp remains delicately crystalline. Singer Romane Claudel-Ferragui provides deep character, ranging from cabaret-styled smoothness to rabid, near-rap syllable-spillage, taking song-essences from Siberia, Bosnia and Brazil, this being even before the band's three guests bring in Turkish, Tamil and Inuit content. Ultimately, these wild parts are bonded within a house style, forced through the Lolomis personality filter. After a gentle opener, the second number toughens up, with punky vocals, chanting repeats and cutting flute. The Inuit Canadian Marie-Pascale Dubé guests, in panting, growling Tanya Tagaq mode, working beside Romane's smoother chanson and spoken narrative. Two of the hottest cuts arrive at the end; ‘Naka’ mixes droned male voice with panting, nervy female vocals and Turkish flavoured ‘Toundra’ is dreamy with mournful flute and the guesting Yom's melancholic klezmer clarinet.