En Couleurs

The Louisianan twenty-somethings in Feufollet were raised on Cajun music, and have showcased their respect for tradition and their considerable instrumental and vocal skills in a series of delightful recordings. On this, their fifth album, the tradition is still there in refreshing arrangements of vintage material by Ed Deshotels, Adam Hebert, and Dennis McGee. But there are also quality original contributions by three of the band's current six members and by acoustic guitarist Blake Miller, one of five guests.

Peter DeHart and Allison Bohl's artful cover illustration of a collection of multi-coloured pickup sticks is an apt counterpart to the album's music. Primary colours of Cajun, Québecois, country, and swamp rock material are refracted by the multi-talented musicians (on Cajun accordion, fiddle, guitar, and rhythm drums and bass) through additional unusual instrumentation, including organ, toy piano, glockenspiel, and the Suzuki omnichord (a sort of electronic autoharp with drum samples). Ivan Klisanin, the album's co-producer, contributes electronic effects and textures, but none of this ever sounds overproduced, obtrusive or cutesy: there are organic sounds of crackling leaves and chickens, for instance. The original material, like Josh Caffery's good-natured amble ‘À Saint-Martin’ or Chris Stafford's country swing ‘Les Jours Sont Longs’, with its homely male vocals and lap steel solo, is so unaffected that it sounds like it's been around for a long time. Anna Laura Edmiston's vocals, on her own songs and the plaintive ‘Assis Dans la Fenêtre de ma Chambre’, abound with girlish charm and empathy. In the secure and loving embrace of Feufollet, the Cajun legacy has grown up and outwards.