Christine Salem, the Maloya diva from Réunion, whose island’s soundtrack was inherited from slaves, had already accustomed us in the past to blending her roots and ancestral heritage with other genres, such as blues and rock. Here, she takes her musical explorations even further by forming an all-star quintet around her earthy, spirit-filled voice, composed of artists well-versed in jazz and improvisation in all its forms: a 100% female hybrid. At the foundation, Fanny Lasfargues (Noël Akchoté, Akosh S…), with her hip-hop roots and noise roars, plays the “groove” card and provides the grounding with her electro-acoustic bass, enhanced with electronic effects. On the skin drums, struck with full palms, percussionist and ethnomusicologist Anne-Laure Bourget (Orange Blossom, Mohamed Abozekry, Sahariennes…), a long-time collaborator of the singer, brings her diverse and wandering knowledge of the rhythms of the East and those of the planet. With her triple-time drumsticks, the brilliant drummer from Réunion, Héloïse Divilly (Oriane Lacaille, etc.), refocuses the tempo around the unique pulse of her island. Finally, in this melting pot, guitarist Tatiana Paris (Thomas de Pourquery, Théo Ceccaldi, Sandra Nkaké, etc.) distills her precious, delicate, and carefully considered notes.

Around this soul, this shared passion that is Christine Salem’s songs, in Creole and in the language of her ancestors, sung by several female voices, these five sensitive virtuosos come together, freely and intuitively, to give birth to this terra incognita, this moving entity against a backdrop of maloya, this Creole music woven from their respective identities, brought together here. And there is no doubt that on stage, this spicy and daring adventure takes off into incongruous, abrasive, spiritual, blues, rock, feminine, and sacred territories… The epic “Salem Rényon!”

On her maloya road, she moves forward determinedly, following the paths of her beliefs and intuitions. She keeps her antennae up, always on the lookout for new songs. With her very personal way of bringing songs to life, Christine Salem has created thirteen new titles, and if maloya cements this adventure, the foundations of her songs are mostly blues. It is clear on this album that Christine Salem loves that music born from the earth, pain and history.

For each of the songs on Mersi, it was necessary to find the key, the arrangements that would make it sound “right” and Christine Salem chose as a common thread the virtuoso violin of the composer, arranger and conductor Frédéric Norel. Thus, the groove of the percussion entangles the violin’s flights of fancy, inspired by classical and even folk music. Far, however, from an artificial juxtaposition of two universes that a priori nothing connects, the ensemble sounds natural, creating this new land, born from Christine’s imagination: a hybrid world, built on the freedom she leaves to each of her musicians. The production and mixing of this album by Jean Lamoot (Bashung, Salif Keita) has brought out its light, sincerity and charisma.