BAB EL WEST HOUDOUD - BAB EL WEST (CD)

Houdoud The word border is a blind word, man has two eyes to see the world. This word from Eluard inspires the plot of Houdoud, Bab El West's new album. "Houdoud" is the border, the junction between the worlds, but also their limit: joyful and threatening at the same time, complex and dual. The first album, Douar, the village, critical success, winner of the SACEM prize for self-production, laid the foundations of an imaginary village, the cradle of the group and its roots. Houdoud breathes asphalt, parties, and side roads. Matured on the road, he bears the imprint of the stage and of fertile encounters: with the talented Shiels, Irish former members of the group Sons of the Desert. always acolyte Yannick Jory, Breton saxophonist with gypsy inflections. or even Jean-Luc Thomas, an exceptional flutist of Breton tradition, with African, Arab and South American sensibilities. From stopover to stopover, these Celtic influences mingle with the North African chaabi and gnawa sounds dear to the group to draw “Houdoud”, the constantly renewed border. Implicitly, a common heritage: rock, pop and afro music. Sound engineer Léo Fourastié sets up a mobile studio in a large wooden building located on the banks of the Jaudy estuary, in the Côtes d'Armor, the group's historic stronghold. The live recording of all the titles, from the voice to the percussion, gives the album a cohesion and a unique warmth. Deeply organic, alternately poetic western, fable, initiatory story, Houdoud screens the living through catchy melodies, on the borders of man, animal and plant.