BRUXOS, meaning sorcerer in Portuguese, refers to the belief that Pongo was confronted with when growing up in Angola, the belief that jealous people would cast spells on those who succeeded. Pongo grew up with this idea stuck in her head, purposefully aiming not to succeed too much in whatever she undertook, for fear of being caught by the curses of these sorcerers, dissatisfied with their own lack of success. Today, she frees herself from these BRUXOS, and urges her audience to get rid of all the constraints, even those self-imposed, that lead to doubt and taint success. BRUXOS, this new ode to resilience in Pongo's signature style, resonates with everyone and will leave no one indifferent.

There was, around BRUXOS, the desire to combine the dances dear to Pongo: Kuduro, Break, Malanje, dancehall, an improbable fusion of rhythms found in South and Central Africa, Reunionese instruments (Kayamb) and Caribbean grooves. The composers Dj Tony438, young French dancehall legend, and Lazy Flow, stemming from ballroom indie club culture and member of “House of Ladurée”, have made a wild anthem with the omnipresent concept of escapism at its core. Produced by King Doudou (Pnl, BadGyal, JBalvin), the vision was to incorporate flows from various global electronic music genres (dancehall, BaileFunk), while having a large majority of the elements played by fantastic instrumentalists in the studio, ensuring that the song would have the energy and feel of a live performance

Carpenter Brut is the hottest synthwave, darksynth act yet. He released Trilogy in 2015, his tracks features on Hotline Miami 2 and the Crew amongst others and released in 2018 Leater Teeth. A first LP. A really short one : 32 minutes. « 8 tracks, like all the good old metal albums. People can listen to it over and over again if they feel this is too short.” Carpenter Brut will present his new album throughout the year around the globe with appearences at world famous stages like Coachella (USA), Osheaga (Canada), Primavera Sound (Spain), and internationaly known venues Olympia (Paris), Koko (London), Irving Plaza (New York City), etc.

A handful of tunes knocked up after classes, a few songs borrowed from France Gall, little electro hits mustered on two EP (Pirouettes, 2012, L’importance des autres, 2014), the complicity of Etienne Daho and the attachment of an ultra-faithful group of followers, finely polished videoclips, a photo session in L.A. with Hedi Slimane, and, to top it all: Carrément Carrément, their first album, self-produced and highly praised (Kidderminster, 2016).

At the core are Leo and Vickie, a duo of gifted lovers who have come to be within a few years one of the most endearing representatives of today’s french pop scene, namely: The Pirouettes. Their love story started with a song. And ever since has never refrained from staging itself, and veiling itself, and then baring itself : the Pirouettes have become masters of that subtle art of speaking genuinely of our inner selves by telling us their own very story, thus always balancing between intimate and universal matters.

Indeed, standing in the open like that, you put yourself at risk. You tend to be labelled with all sorts of things that would choke you up in the end. Leo and Vickie saw through it, and they quickly freed themselves from that sticky 80’s nostalgia. Bearing this in mind, that internet generation model couple has chosen to come back- and also herald what will be next- with a song of confession (on a misty instrumental production by Lewis OfMan), that calls up the fragility of love: Tu peux compter sur moi. As if, by singing the crannies cracking the surface and letting see the doubt and the frailty, the Pirouettes aimed to go still farther in their will to thwart the expected and the obvious, and surprise, while never renouncing the pop music immediacy.

Having just completed a tour that has led them throughout France and Belgium, but also to New York and Montreal, plus the ultimate touch in Paris, where they brought La Cigale down, the duo have already unveiled a few songs of their 2nd album -due next fall- i.e.: Monopolis.

The Pirouettes chose to settle in this fictional capital city of the western world, imagined by Michel Berger in the Starmania musical, to write their second LP: an album they present as more storytelling oriented, filled with love affairs, secret diary pages, and even... an oriental tale. Stories that allow for a decentred outlook, as a mean for new perspectives, which also has its musical counterpart, as the duo chose to collaborate with fellow musicians (Dodi El Sherbini, Lewis OfMan, Krampf, Vaati to name a few) for the composition of several songs. This was a way to keep things fresh and new of course, but also to always push them up ahead, in order to stay on top of the competition.

Avec ce nouvel opus, les Tourangeaux d'EZ3kiel - qui ont pour bonne habitude celle de ne pas en avoir - surprennent encore et repoussent une nouvelle fois les lignes d'une œuvre pourtant déjà maitresse dans l'art du contre-pied. Parce qu'il mêle musique et littérature, La Mémoire du Feu est bien ce qu'il est coutume d'appeler un concept-album. Le disque nait ainsi de la collaboration entre trois musiciens d'un côté – les historiques membres Johann GUILLON & Stéphane BABIAUD accompagnés pour l'occasion de Nicolas PUAUX [Narrow Terence, Narco Terror) - et de l'autre, un auteur de polar, Caryl FEREY, à qui l'on doit notamment une série de romans noirs plus abrasifs les uns que les autres - Zulu, Mapuche ou Condor, pour ne citer qu'eux. L’histoire, c’est celle de Diane et Duane, les presque jumeaux, dont l’amour brûle et se consume au fil d’une saison en enfer, pour finalement renaître de ses cendres. Une spirale ascendante sous forte brise musicale, appelant la nature à la poésie et l’humain à n’abdiquer devant rien. Tout au long des 45mn qui compose l’album, trois formes musicales se côtoient : des chansons, des mots parlés mis en musique et des pièces instrumentales - le tout précautionneusement enchevêtré afin de raconter la grandeur et décadence de ces deux protagonistes au destin froissé. Les chansons - forme musicale on ne peut plus inédite chez EZ3kiel -sont interprétées par un couple aussi énigmatique que magnétique composé de l’explosive Jessica MARTIN-MARESCO / Diane et du rocailleux Benjamin NEROT / Duane. Pensée comme un Choeur Antique à elle seule, l’actrice Olivia NICOSIA intervient au cours d'interludes entre les chansons, et narre dans une sorte de spoken words orchestré les forts intérieurs des amants. Enfin, les morceaux instrumentaux, de par leur force climatique naturelle, appuient la fulgurance du récit et soulignent la dramaturgie d'un album éminemment conçu pour emporter. En acceptant le jeu de composer leur nouveau disque sous l'autorité des textes en français de Caryl FEREY, EZ3kiel – habituellement auteurs d'un électro-rock instrumental cinégénique et de multiples albums studio mêlant sons analogiques et digitaux - prouvent leur désir de se mettre à nouveau en danger artistiquement, de rechercher sciemment l'inconfort de création afin d'accoucher d'une œuvre qui - parce que finalement plus architecturée qu'à l'accoutumée – vient encore élargir le spectre artistique de leur discographie. Usant avec mesure et justesse de leurs différentes expériences et collaborations artistiques actuelles et passées, ils ouvrent avec La Mémoire du Feu la voie d'une musique hybride entre folk, electronique & rock organique et créent ce que l'on pourrait sans rougir appeler la « Post-Chanson Française ».