Another Sun

Albumrecensie

Another Sun is the third album from Faudel, the primary representative of the newest generation of rai stars. As with his previous ventures, he breaks tradition by singing in French as well as Arabic. Admittedly, Arabic probably suits rai somewhat better, with French being almost too soft in intonation to form some of the tones of angst and rage that come now and then in rai. That said, Faudel makes use of the language to the fullest extent possible, bending it to his will both poetically and sonically. The sound can move from the straightforward power of rai synths and strings to the more relaxed string and drum machine arrangements of soft Euro-ballads. It is, of course, in the rai that Faudel shines. His enunciation and rhythm are distinctive and exceptional, and he makes use of a number of fine compositions along the way. At times, there's even a hint of the influence of Taha, which is something worth hearing in a performer other than Taha himself. However, taking influences from around the European and Algerian circuits is only one aspect of the total sound here. It's Faudel's personal touch on his music that makes it worth hearing, and this album is no exception. Give it a listen as a fan of the 1, 2, 3 Soleils album certainly, but more so as an interested listener of the new directions for rai.