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Francois-Elie Roulin & Swan
Alien Robots Orchestra
Independent
Let's get this straight: In terms of vocal prowess, Jo Swan is the finest living singer in music. Her voice is a commanding, arresting, decadent thing. Chances are you've heard her without knowing it: in 2004 Revlon launched an international ad campaign with the theme song "Bellissimo." That sensuous voice is hers. As part of the Bristol UK-based duo Ilya (San Ilya in the States) she has recorded two albums of moody, jazzy, music, that gives the feeling that though the 60's are behind us, one could still live in a Sean Connery James Bond film. Their debut CD They Died for Beauty was followed by the equally arresting Somerset (each of which was my choice for album of the year [2004, 2006]).
Since that last album, Swan has done some offbeat material: a funky, bluesy, madhatter solo effort called Hootchi Cootchi and an airy album with Belgian musician, Lunabee, called, simply, Lunabee and Swan. And now she is back with her latest collaboration, a concept album, Alien Robots Orchestra, working this time with the obscure and talented Francois Elie Roulin, among whose many accomplishments are several engineered marvels on Brian Eno's Opal Records. Unfortunately for Roulin, he has chosen to work with the most impressively-pure vocalist since Edith Piaf. And as a result this album succeeds only when Swan's gifts match that of the material. Thankfully this happens more often than not.
The obvious answer to the dominance of iTunes is a concept album. But if Kate Bush's 2005 masterpiece Aerial couldn't do the job, it's unlikely anyone can. There is a bit of a tongue-in-cheek approach to this album's idea of robots invading the earth circa 1970's and falling in love with glam rock. And the participants get a lot of the sound just right, all the while managing a contemporary feel. Songs like "Indigo Moon," "Tripping the Light Fantastic," and "Real" have echoes of Queen and Bowie.
But there is the risk with such a concept that the album will be filled with songs that are intentionally cheesy. Take "Moving Like a Robot." There is an odd, chunky beat, a perfect 1970's guitar riff and even a robotic voice that, if you aren't careful will have you singing "Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto." In 2006's Somerset, Swan sang on "Airborne" the following line: "Like chocolate seeping through my veins." And that is what her voice does three times in this song: it cuts through the kitsch aspect and cuts you at your knees and you are happy to be succumbing in such a vulnerable position. Such is the power of her dynamic vocals.
The liner notes give credit on the closing track to the vocal dynamics of Emmanuelle Herr who wails away the album into space and it completely undermines the song by overwhelming it. Swan's vocals for the first half of the song are phenomenally full of swagger and vibrato. But that is handed over to a wailing sort of Cristina Aguilera-over-the-top caterwauling that annoys rather than impresses. The album, though it has some slip-ups, is too fine an effort to close in such a manner (even if said wailings offer a nice visual of the Mothership sucking up its citizens with large magnets from the slippery bonds of earth).
For those mere mortals left on terra firma, this brief foray satisfies until Swan returns to her full glory with an Ilya album in, what one hopes, will be the very near future.
—Thomas Cooney
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