Citron Citron I Chagrin Bleu LP

softly wobbling gentle electronics with French chanson lumped into it.  Spring tunes for cold winter nights.  Lovely album somewhere in between Carla Del Forno, Brigitte Fontaine and and an eighties bar-tabac in the middle of nowhere.

Brother and sister, Citron Citron is the new revelation of the Geneva alternative scene! Already collaborating in the improvised music and image group Burning Spiaggia - Pyre Musik Mïzik, Augustin and Zoé wanted to bring their worlds together and compose more personal and intimate songs. Their band name is a tribute to their late cat Citron.

Chagrin Bleu explores the melancholy of the night and the joy of a flight under the sun. Songs with transcendent refrains, and synthetic laments with romantic melodies, carried by groove box-like rhythms. An album on the borders of chamber pop, medieval chants and ambient. The lyrics are at times poetic, angry or dreamy.

The first sketches of the album were drawn during the first confinement when time was slowing down. The songs were then recorded in a DIY way by the band in their studio in Geneva during the year 2021. The first sessions were recorded on tape with a Tascam 688, then expanded and edited on computer. Some additional recordings were made with the help of sound engineer Yavor Lilov (L'Éclair).

The album also features guests. On the one hand, the musician Fhunyue Gao recorded her theremin on the tracks Perdu and Complainte des Tisserandes, both recorded live. She brought her cosmic and organic touch to the songs. On the other hand, Sébastien Bui (L'Éclair) fleshed out the arrangement of the track Silence Violence with layers of synthesizers as soaring as groovy.

The album was then worked on and mixed with Jacco Gardner in his Antwerp studio. His analogue world allowed the sound of the album to grow and deepen. With his echoes and tape machines, the mix could be approached in an organic and evolutionary way.