For the most part, I don’t think I’ve advanced to the point where, as a Zouk listener, I’m really paying attention to things like artists’ origins and how exactly they reflect on what type of music that particular artist may make. In Reggae, and even in Soca to some degree, I’m able to really get in depth on things like that and I believe that I’m rapidly approaching the point where I may be able to actually tell you where a particular artist comes from simply based on the sound and the vibes of their music. In Zouk, however, while I’m still quite comfortable to let things advance quite slowly on that front, when I do come into bits and pieces of information about how it might possibly relate to an artist’s sound, I try to take and make mental notes as to how that all breaks down. So what have I found thus far? Not much in the way of interesting pasts, although I’m sure there’re plenty. Typically, you’ll see things very reminiscent of the R&B world where, either an artist came up through church or with someone else in the family or, in some other way they’ve managed to grab the attentions of someone in the music industry - All of which are nice and certainly not as pedestrian as I’m making it seem, but not necessarily the most riveting situations either (although comparing those two genres most certainly would be very interesting because the are very similar, ostensibly). So what have I found? Most recently, of course, there’s been the matter of the increasingly captivating Stevy Mahy. While I still don’t know a whole heap about the enchanting Gwada songstress, I did just happen to see a very nice video of her singing as a kid (and noticed that she still looks EXACTLY the same as she did as a very small child), which definitely sheds some light on her rather unusual skills. There’s also another of my favourites, Lindsey Lin’s who, as far as I know, was born somewhere in France, but to parents - One of whom was from Guadeloupe and the other was from Martinique, as if you could possibly construct a better bloodline and situation for a Zouk singer. And I’d also mention people like former Haitian beauty queen, Misty Jean and the delightful Michele Henderson from out of Dominica, neither of whom are REALLY Zouk singers (even less so than Mahy), but certainly float around and occasionally dwell in it and do so as pretty large musical representatives of their homelands. Still, from a personal standpoint, I’d have to say that simply based on how she came to my attention that the rather unusual looking and almost disturbingly adorable Methi’S, probably has the most interesting background of any ‘pure’ Zouk singer that I’ve come to know of thus far.So what’s so special about her and who the hell is Methi’S? Here’s the thing - Methi’S’ history doesn’t read as particularly exceptional, apparently her mother was a driving force in her becoming a musician and, as I said, that isn’t too out of the ordinary at all. What is, however, very attention-getting is the fact that if you wanted to take a Zouk singer and take her towards a Reggae head (like yours truly), the best thing you could do would be to obviously involve HER someway in Reggae music, which is exactly the route Methi’S took. The very first time I REALLY took note of her vibes was on the MASSIVE tune ‘An Ba Soley’ from a few years back, which just so happened to feature the Gwada born singer alongside the dominant Saïk (and it, subsequently, was featured prominently on his album, ”Face à La Réalité”, as well). Not only that, but Methi’S also linked up with another big artist, SamX, on his big tune, ‘Pa Pléré’ (from the “Bondyé Sel Sav“ album), which was another strong way to place her on my radars. And of course (by happenstance, I’m sure), both Sam X and Saïk just happen to belong to the Genesiz Crew, which is a VERY strong (predominately Dancehall) group of young artists from out of Guadeloupe (and also includes, I believe, the likes of Ocsen and Young Chang MC) and I believe that Methi’S is also an ‘official’ member. It’s interesting that both of those initial tunes were kind of one-drop songs and I thought that Methi’S might be a bit of a Reggae singer (which simply doesn’t exist to my knowledge for younger females in French Caribbean Reggae to my knowledge) because she definitely handled it so well, but unsurprisingly, as we get to know her more and more, she shows that her main intentions are in the Zouk realm as we get to know her better. And there exists no better way to get to know Methi’S better, to my knowledge, than checking out her brand new debut album, ”Mon Nid D’iles”, which finds the delightful ‘sidekick’ like artist taking center stage. As if her work with Genesiz wasn’t enough emersion in Reggae music (and it definitely was), Methi’S’ album also comes via the single largest label on the FWI Reggae scene, Don’s Music, who appears to be broadening their horizons as of late (besides Methi’S the label is also working with Zouk singer, Ludy) and couldn’t have chosen a better artist to start with in my opinion. In case you haven’t been able to tell thus far, I’m pretty high on Methi’S as an artist and for me, it’s always so interesting to see someone progress to the point where I’m not the only one who seems to notice that . . . ‘Damn this person is pretty good at making music’ and it’s even more interesting in the case of Methi’S who, again, has gone from doing big combinations with other artists, right into her own project. So the next question, obviously, is whether or not the singer can hold the vibes so high on her own. Well, that’s not quite the question - To hold her to the standards of ‘An Ba Soley’ and ‘Pa Pléré’ would be pretty damn unfair (following his last album, actually, it’s probably pretty unfair to hold SamX to those standards, to be frank), but what remains to be seen is if she can make her own way and set her own standards as a solo Zouk artist.
She can. Now, after alllllllll of that, I think I should probably say that I wasn’t exactly expecting much from this album. It definitely comes in a very exclusive group of pieces which I REALLY wanted to get my paws on, but wasn’t expecting to be blown away by. Of course, the fact that I’d only heard a couple of Methi’S solo tunes prior to the release (which is on this album) had something to do with that and, again, at this stage in someone’s career, expectations in general just shouldn’t be very high, especially in Zouk I think. So, perhaps the fact that I wasn’t expecting to be thrilled with Methi’S debut album, ”Mon Nid D’iles“, had something to do with the fact that I definitely was at times during this very enjoyable album, particularly in the early stages. Such may’ve been the case with the opening and title track for the album, which was one of the two tunes that I’d heard prior to getting the album. This tune is electric, literally, and while I generally don’t have such a strong reaction to tunes vibed like such, this one really grew on me in short order. The tune is going about giving love to the Caribbean and Methi’S is representing very nicely on tunes like this. She does the same thing on the next song in, ’Two Lontan’, with its semi-spectacular vibes. This one is one of the strongest pure Zouk pieces on the album (or, just by my standards of what “pure Zouk” is) (“modern” is probably a better word than “pure”, however) because it has the characteristic swaying BOUNCE to it which I just love and I’m certain that, given the opportunity to shine a bit, this one can really have an impact. The third track of ”Mon Nid D’iles”, ’Tu Me Manques’, is also the first big single from the album which birthed the crazy video (which I surely attached) also. I’ve kind of gone back and forth on this one from since I first heard it and regardless of what you may think of it, ultimately, I think that the saving grace here is the intoxicatingly pulsing riddim for the song which has just been gripping my brain as of late and Methi’S’ vocals on top of it don’t hurt the tune’s quality at all. But that riddim is QUEEN!
I probably shouldn’t even have to tell you, at this point, where exactly my attention was focused when looking at the contents of ”Mon Nid D’iles”, because it’s quite obvious. The first of two combinations on the album, ’Number One’, features impressive Martinique (I THINK) singer Oneel and I have to say that although it certainly isn’t amongst my favourites here, that chorus is RIDICULOUS! As for the rest of the tune, there’re literally times where you pause it to make sure you aren’t playing more than one song at the same time, but the chorus is the saving bit here. What saves the second combination, the remix for ‘Are You Ready’, is something wholly different altogether. This infectious Soca-fied tune features Frenchie Hip-Hopper Aym Zilla and the aforementioned demonically gifted DJ, Saïk. While the most gifted wordsmith never reaches critical mass (and he’s auto-tuned throughout), he comes damn close and the vibes of the tune is large enough to get the job done anyway and if I’m being completely honest (and I am), it is the single best moment you’ll find on the album, unsurprisingly.
But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t any worthy ‘challengers’ from the balance of ”Mon Nid D’iles”. DEFINITELY the greatest of the ‘contenders’ is the Reggae-ish ‘Pé Pa Vwéw Pléré’. I read an interview with Methi’S where she mentioned that she had become quite the fan of Jamaican Reggae diva Alaine and this is a very Alaine sounding type of song with its kind of underlying COOLNESS dominating the song. A couple of later tunes on the album also exhibit a similar chilling quality from Methi’S, ‘J’avoue’ and ‘Quelque Part’. Both tunes are seemingly equal parts sweet Zoukiness and Reggae and are absolutely candy for your ears. For my opinion, I slightly favour the ‘colour’ of the latter, however, which down its stretch highlights the big tune. I should also mention ‘So Fine’ in this row as well because it’s pretty much a Dancehall tune sang by Methi’S. Sounding like something directly out of Steven ‘Lenky’ Marsden’s catalog, circa the Diwali years, Methi’S pulls another Alaine-like piece for the masses and I’d imagine this one would be quite the popular selection for the dance floors if given the opportunity (and it probably will be) in the Caribbean and beyond (and, as the title would suggest, there’s quite a bit of English in the tune as well).
As for the balance of the album, it features a ‘healthy’ mixture of big moments and less than stellar pieces as well. A tune like ‘En Vain’ is definitely going to catch your ears, just as it did mine because it happens to be absolutely gorgeous in every way and is one of the best tunes on the whole of the album. This one sounds like something you’d hear from Lindsey Lin’s or Kénédy - One of the more ‘stereotypical’ and well known Zoukies - And it is on that level as well, AT LEAST. I’d also imagine that in heavy Zouk circles, ‘En Vain’ would draw a nice bit of attention and praise as well - This very SPARKLING tune. ‘Nou Jen’, which follows it, might also do it fair share of damage, although it’s a bit off-center (especially with that saxophone spiraling in the background) and somewhat genre bending, the tune is delightful and although there’re several stronger tunes here, you won’t find many which are more interesting sonically. And speaking of sonic appeal, there’s also ‘Si C'est Ça Le Monde’, which is nearly devastating with its BIG sounding vibes and so impressive is it, that it ranks as one of the finest moments on the album as well (although it does threaten to implode later on in its duration. And finally there’re the two songs on ”Mon Nid D’iles” which I don’t particularly enjoy, ‘Tu Mens’ and the closer ‘Rupture’. For its part, ‘Tu Mens’ certainly isn’t a bad tune, but for my opinion, it’s too . . . Kind of European Electric/Dance Light-ish/Techno for my ears. There are definitely tunes like this which I like, but in this case it literally seems kind of mechanical and like it was made to ‘satisfy’ that type of market. And as for ’Rupture’, Methi’S continues to show her Reggae leanings by ending her album with a . . . Yep you guessed it, an acoustic set, which definitely doesn’t fit in on the vibes here, but it does manage to show off her lovely vocals a bit in its otherwise mediocrity.
Overall, there are so many things going through my mind in regards to this album and Methi’S and her future as an artist. The most prominent and prevalent is the thought that it would be so nice if she could continue to develop more and more into Reggae and eventually become a Reggae singer. Not that she’s bad at all at Zouk, but I think, given her situation, and given the fact that I can’t think AT ALL of a dominant female singing French Reggae, seemingly heading in that direction would be a great deal less crowded and competitive. On top of that, however, I think she’s off to a wonderful start, regardless of what direction she ultimately goes. "Mon Nid D'iles" shows Methi’S in a most favourable light by showing her versatility and although it may (and it does) take a while to realize in some of the more ‘rigid’ moments of the album, this Zouk album isn’t just a straight forward Zouk album, there are many more things at work here. So excellent start for a young artist whose background and the company she keeps almost guarantees that we’ll be hearing more from her in the future - One way or another.
Rated: 3.999999/5
Don's Music
2010
CD + Digital
Methi'S @ Myspace
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