Julii Sharp - Toucan (CD)

Everything is said in less than a minute. With a languorous introduction that soars to the altitudes of stripped-down folk, each note caressing, Toucan takes us straight to the heart of the matter and announces the program from the outset. It's beautiful," sings Julii Sharp in the opening bars of the opening track. And indeed it is. It's simple, it's beautiful, it's obvious. And we find ourselves thinking that nothing should be other than in this moment of suspended grace, where so much is expressed with so little. The woman who began her career vociferating over Alanis Morissette or Francis Cabrel confesses to an artistic epiphany when listening to Marie Laforêt. Her ability to combine the French language with folk sounds, without sacrificing one to the other, opened the doors to a new way of approaching music for the then young singer. Mysteriously, if listening to this EP brings to mind Hope Sandoval and her dreamy, hypnotic atmospheres, the miracle happens especially when Julii sings in French: she knows how to take us by the hand and guide us into unexplored territories where we feel immediately on familiar ground.