Klô Pelgag
Abracadabra, like a quest for the absolute, like a desire to believe in something. For all the knots you have to untie to free yourself and reveal who you really are, fearless and shameless. A formula you wish could fix everything, instantly resolving all problems. A word you repeat while staring out of the window. Maybe if you keep saying it long enough, it’ll open a door inside of you. Abracadabra, a ridiculous yet beautiful word that would save you from having to make the effort to help your neighbour or to help yourself. Abracadabra, a word that makes me want to untangle it and to which I’d like to assign a new meaning. Abracadabra, like this magic pill prescribed by my doctor to sleep, like my phone that stops me from overthinking when my mind is going to pieces, like the alcohol that comforts me and gives me back this joy that escapes me too often. And in this quest for the absolute and for meaning, in this endless pursuit of fun, there is the desire to create something I’m unfamiliar with but that resembles me somehow. Music that pierces my soul as fiercely as my emotions, like I’m standing on the edge of a cliff and constantly about to fall, creating the urge to write. And every which way and probably forever, I’ll try to capture this intangible, unspeakable thing, this fleeting feeling that sometimes makes me want to be silly and say it: here we go, abracadabra.
Each new album by Klô Pelgag reestablishes her unique place in the Francophone cultural landscape. “Abracadabra” is no exception. From the first notes, the music displays more refined contrasts, and the lyrics feature more precise, powerful, poetic images. Conveying equal parts fragility and complexity, the melodies fragment, only to reappear transfigured. Klô Pelgag’s elegant voice is front and centre, as she uses it in various exploratory ways. She refuses to stagnate and she knows how to surprise and to find magic. With “Abracadabra” Klô Pelgag hopes to make the world less harsh with a simple formula. She has fun while interrogating her own certainties and anxieties, looking for meaning. This album confirms her sensational skills as a composer, arranger and musician, which make her one of the most distinctive creative forces of her generation.
Working as the sole producer of the project, Klô Pelgag surrounded herself with her fortress of collaborators of the last few years: Étienne Dupré (Synths, Bass, Drum Machine, Timbales, Shakers), François Zaïdan (Flute, Omnichord, Guitar, Synthesisers), Pete Pételle (Drums, Percussion, Drum Machine, Hand Claps), Virginie Reid (Piano, Synths), and Pierre Girard (Sound Mix).
Son rayonnement avec son dernier opus Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs s’étend au-delà du Canada, avec d’élogieuses critiques en France, de Télérama, avec la très prisée note de ffff, mais aussi de Longueur d’Ondes, Rolling Stone France, FrancoFans, notamment.
Avec son premier album, L’alchimie des monstres, sorti en 2013, elle a raflé plusieurs prix, incluant le Prix Barbara du ministère de la Culture française, le Grand Prix de la Francophonie de l’Académie Charles Cros, le Prix Miroir Célébration de la langue française au Festival d’été de Québec ainsi que le Prix Rapsat-Lelièvre.
Avec L’étoile thoracique, son second album, elle a reçu le prestigieux Prix Félix-Leclerc ainsi que le Prix de la chanson SOCAN pour la chanson ‘Ferrofluides-fleurs’.