More than twenty years since the four Parisian musicians met in the studio! The announcement of a new FFF album in 2023 was surprising, but the first minutes of listening to I Scream will remove all reluctance: we would think we had returned to the era of the Éphémère Hospital at the end of the years 1980, at the time when the group animated this Parisian artistic wasteland. FFF was a pioneer of a fusion between rock and funk (fonk!) which they deployed endlessly both on record and on stage over the following decade. However, we felt a certain wear and tear beginning. Everyone went to explore different paths. Guitarist Yarol Poupaud distinguished himself as Johnny Hallyday’s musical director in the last years of the latter’s career, while singer Marco Prince, drummer Krishoo and bassist Niktus devote themselves to theater and cinema in quality of composers. Started on stage a handful of years ago, this reunion keeps all its promises on this compact and energetic album, which also knows how to take a breath. Coming from long improvisations, the songs never neglect musicality, without falling into the somewhat predictable “plans” of this type of alloy. We have learned to be wary of the third halves, but the four fifty-year-olds display a vitality here that belies their marital status. Looking forward to the concerts: on stage, the group never disappointed. And the compositions on this disc constitute the ideal material to join their classics.
I Scream, FFF (Verycords)
The most elegant singer on the planet has been very discreet in recent years. Starting in 1972 with the very underrated group Roxy Music and continuing as a solo artist, his journey has never disappointed. Here he remembers us fondly with the reissue of one of his best solo albums. Initially released in 1994, Mamouna, the singer’s 9th album, interrupted a 7-year silence. It notably marked the first collaboration with Brian Eno since his last departure from Roxy Music in 1973. We hear a collection of musicians as prestigious as Nile Rodgers, Robin Trower, Nathan East and many others. Bryan Ferry’s velvety timbre illuminates the original songs. But the real revelation of this careful reissue is the presence of a second album, Horoscope. This is actually Mamouna’s first working version, and it turns out to be superior to the album itself, which is not often. We feel Ferry and the musicians more involved on these first takes than on Mamouna, a record perhaps overly produced due to having been refined in the studio over many years. We can only hope for other revelations to come, and pray that Ferry reissues the excellent Frantic from 2002, failing to offer us anything new.
Mamouna, Bryan Ferry