Apparently someone forgot to tell the French and French Caribbean Reggae artists exactly what I had on my plate as far as Jamaican Reggae in 2009 because they don’t seem to be letting up at all. Perhaps they didn’t know that Sizzla would have a big album this year; perhaps the fact that Buju Banton would FINALLY deliver Rasta Got Soul went under their radars; maybe it could have slipped their mind that Jah Cure would push his most high profile release to date and maybe, just maybe, they didn’t know that Tarrus Riley’s Contagious, Queen Ifrica, Sojah, Mad Cobra and whoever else ends up doing something in the last third of the year (and everyone else I didn’t mention). I just don’t have time to pay attention to all of that AND THEN glance over the fence into our neighbours’ yard to notice that they’re having a helluva time and see what they’re doing and, more importantly,listen to what they’re doing (funny talking and all). I say this because, almost as if they seem to be keeping a schedule, there is ALWAYS, this year, a virtually steady stream of French/French Caribbean/Afro-French artists pushing big projects and just generally trying to fill the ‘gaps’ (which don’t exist) between big Jamaican releases and never mind the fact that you still have to pay attention to other Reggae heavy ports across the Caribbean and worldwide and the Frenchies just aren’t doing me any favours AT ALL. Two of my favourite French artists, both Tiwony and Saïk, have dropped projects in 2009 with Tiwony’s recent Viv La Vi being damn near outstanding and Saïk’s M-10 Strict, which was essentially a mixtape (they call them ‘street albums’) wasn’t bad at all and showcased one of the most powerful young voices in all of Reggae. Besides that, each and every year I find myself coming away with at least one new standout on from the French scene having gotten his/her fair chunk of my attentions from that point on and things didn’t change in 2009 as (at least so far) Martinique’s Blenda [aka Supa Lee] has been the newer artist distinguishing himself, largely on the strength of his fine album Operationel. And you STILL have others like Speedy (Gangsta Cry), Toktone G (big album name Indestruktible) and more recently, the Genesiz family released their own ‘street album’, Genesiz Bashment. All of them and many more have just been wreaking absolute havoc on my listening schedules in 2009 and with just August all but finish, we have four more months of similar activity to look forward to (biggest piece for the rest of the year figures to be Ma Vérité from the sensational Lady Sweety).
But at least like. . . I don’t know, at least like Saël or someone like that didn’t put out an album, because that would just fuck me up! Well that’s simply not true anymore as (as far as I know) the largest independent releaser of French Reggae in the world, Don’s Music from out of Martinique, has seemingly sucked all of the hype from their last two BIG releases (Saïk’s Face à La Réalité and Mots Pour Maux from the original Dancehall badman scarecrow, [Le Homme De] Paille) from 2007 and are now ready to release Témoignage from Saël, the Martinique singer’s first album since 2005’s Ma Vision (also from Don’s Music). Saël is an artist I will eternally be grateful to as, much in the same fashion as Destra with Soca and Sizzla with resparking Reggae in general, he served as a bit of a ‘gateway’ artist for me as he was the very first French artist that I began listening to. Not too long afterwards I caught on to Admiral T and it was through both Saël and the Admiral that I began to listen to all of this lovely music and even begin to gain the desire to start learning French and Creole and, with these few years later, its quite easy to see what type of an overall effect they have, by extension, had on what I listen to. That being said, however, unlike I BLATANTLY and shamelessly cling to Destra and Sizzla as not only my favourites but who I feel are THE BEST, I don’t hold such a more tangible reverence for Saël’s music (his NAME definitely does however, if I see that he has an album or a show or whatever forthcoming, I’m DEFINITELY paying attention to it), so he (and Admiral T) have to work hard to make good music and I’ll actually call it if it isn’t. Yet, even though I have subsequently bypassed them both by the aforementioned likes of Tiwony, Saïk and others (like Lyricson) as my favourite French artists I have to admit that a smile crossed my face when I saw that Témoignage was coming soon that didn’t necessarily occur with either M-10 Strict or Viv La Vi. So who is Saël from a musical standpoint? He is a singer at heart but he kind of drifts into the chanter/deejay category at times. I usually liken him to someone such as Turbulence (although I think I do that because I think they look a little bit similar to one another) but I also hear someone like Pressure Buss Pipe and Ras Attitude in there a bit as well. I didn’t rightly at all know when to expect this album. It would have seemed to be such a nice time for it last year, when, still riding on the successes of Saïk and Paille, Don’s Music would have seemingly wanted to capitalize on the market IMMEDIATELY with another of its biggest names releasing an album but the year came and went without a release from Saël. I would have also thought that 2007 might not have been a bad time either. Saël has a reputation as someone who literally LIVES in the studio and lives to write songs so it would stand to reason that he would have been ready from as far back as two years ago. That being said, however, 2009 is probably the best choice as Témoignage will now have most of the attention (as far as Don’s Music) and promotion to itself and not have to share it with a next release (the label’s last release, to my knowledge, would have been Saison 3 of its annual compilation Don’s Collector back in December), which is what it deserves. Témoignage marks the return of one of the most overlooked talented artists on the entire Reggae scene and perhaps, given the set of circumstances (with most of Don’s Music’s recent releases taking off like they have), more of the Reggae loving world can come to recognize the real talent of the one name Saël.
The vibes on Témoignage, at least to my opinion, seem to tune up a little more laid back than both of Saël’s previous albums (besides Ma Vision, there was also Saël & Friends, his debut from back in 2002 and a live version of that same album also, later that year). The album is also a bit more SLEEK and refined which lends itself to a much more ‘convenient’ type of sound, meaning that it comes across as just a bit more easy to listen to in one spin, even the songs which I don’t necessarily enjoy. The first tune offering itself up for your enjoyment (or lack thereof) is Saël’s Testimony [Témoignage], the album’s title track. The song is pretty much an extravagant intro in my opinion but it’s kind of odd how its done and it commands SO MUCH attention (thus, perhaps, the title of the album, although that, in and of itself, is quite good) as it finds Saël singing, deejaying, straight rapping and going spoken word style over this crazy, drum & bass sounding riddim. You just have to hear it to really get a grasp of it but, I do have to admit that it had me worried. Interesting opening, to say the least. The sweetly vibed Gadé Pu Vancé is up next and begins what I meant when I said ‘convenient’ vibes as I literally had to listen to this tune about four or five times in a row before I REALLY began to scrutinize it to any degree as I was basically HYPNOTIZED by the sound alone. The song itself is a nice conscious piece and really with the foundation it has I found that I listened to it more than any song on the album. Although it’s not THE best you’ll find on Témoignage altogether, Gadé Pu Vancé is right up there (don’t let that first bit fool you). The arguably even bigger sounding Fan De completes the fairly strong opening on Témoignage with some mighty strong vocals where Saël stretches his voice very nicely which he rarely does: This time, for the ladies and a nice tune in the process. Well done.
I found myself more than a few times going, “I know this song from somewhere” more than a couple of times through Témoignage, almost frustratingly so (when I couldn’t recall WHERE I knew the tune from) but it worked out in the end and definitely shows what I mean when I say that Témoignage is very convenient again. The first bit of déjà vu I experienced wasn’t frustrating at all because it came in the form of Péyi Ya, the album’s first single to my knowledge. The song really is nice and explains about Saël’s life and the people around and the video was funny. Big song. Then things got quite interesting. Miss Police I think will become a signature tune from Témoignage when it reaches its heights but I’m pretty sure I know it from SOMEWHERE already. I can’t imagine that I would have forgotten it, however, as it’s a very nice tune as well as being familiar. And then there’s Né Vainqueur, which is. . . Like 5 five songs in one. The song essentially goes on a Zouk infused cut of the Unfinished Business riddim (or is it the Showtime???)! It’s crazy as hell to hear that thing going like that and then the piano just jumps in! The album’s best tune, Jah Est Puissant [Jah Is Powerful] had me singing So Appealing by Pressure for some reason (uhhhh???) but that is one SWEET vibes and Saël really hurts that sweet riddim with a tune designed and sent straight in praise of His Majesty for the biggest chunk of ‘evidence’ revealed in this testimony. Les Maitres de L'univers also pushed through sounding familiar, although in this case in particular, I think it’s more due to the fact that I REALLY like this tune than the probability that I’ve heard it somewhere before. It definitely proves to be one of the real highlights on Témoignage and VERY QUIETLY maybe this one will stick around as one of the better drops of Saël’s entire career when it’s all said and done. More Love is a very similar tune in that respect and, plus, it comes through over Riff Raff’s EPIC Sledge Riddim (and apparently voiced at Tuff Gong) which is serious definitely. More Love is also the only tune on Testimony which Saël delivers completely in English (hope you caught that one) and I’m definitely hoping he’ll do that again here and there because he definitely sounds nice doing it and I have always thought some of the French artists would do good mixing in some English, Saël wasn’t one of those but he is now. Big tune. Although all of those songs seemed to strike me as familiar, Témoignage definitely offers more than its fair share of surprises as well, like Naturelle! This song is just SO NICE and such a upful and sincere vibes that it really sticks with you and in the place where it is on the album (right before Jah Est Puissant and right after an interlude presumably featuring Saël’s daughter, Mahli) it stands out and adds nicely to the vibes. One of the album’s finest. Both Faya Yo and the tune which follows it, Maladive Attirance also do quite well. Faya Yo is a bit on the repitive/cliché side to my opinion but the overall vibe of the tune really is nice (including a downright dazzling saxophone). Maladive Attirance [Love Sick], however, doesn’t warrant any type of conditional response as it’s just BIG overall and it may even get better with quite a few more spins (and I’m working on that. Trust!). And the saxophone is back and bigger than ever on Témoignage’s LOVELY closer, Mon Pays Est Malade [My Country Is Sick] which gets downright SOULFUL by its endings. The song is another high quality and well done piece from Don’s Music and company as it sets itself nicely within Saël’s skillset and proves an excellent way to end an album which does the exact same thing for the artist.
Overall, I don’t think I can call Témoignage Saël’s best album to date but its very close with Ma Vision. More important, however, at least presumably, is that Témoignage is going to get a level of attention that none of the singer’s work has gotten to date which makes it a bit of a show and tell situation for a great deal of fans. To that respect, I wish they would have gotten a bit more in the way of combinations (the only one is chanter Valler, who just barely chimes in on the later stages of Mon Pays Est Malade, although nicely so but Valley is, as far as I know, a Don’s Music artist) and maybe a few different things. However, what that shows is that MAYBE they don’t have such lofty goes for Témoignage as I do. Regardless of its promotional or commercial fate, Témoignage is a very nice vibes and I REALLY hope it gets its just due from the fans across the world. Even if it doesn’t, however, you know at least one person who’ll be playing it. . .
Rated 3.75/5
Don's Music
2009
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