Album Review: El Yuc - L'album des clichés

L’album des clichés is a testament to itself; it is soulful, inspiring, and dramatic. It sounds like pretty much nothing else out there, but its spirit is compelling and addictive, playing out like a millennial update on the linguistic poetry found when listening to world music. The debut album splits the difference between heartfelt ballads and breakbeat-infused hip hop, taking listeners on a uniquely exhilarating journey. The sound couldn’t be any more surprising, but sole songwriter/ lyricist/ singer and French-Canadian artist El Yuc seems confident in how the French language plays a big role in his music.

For casual non-native listeners, everything may appear to be a big blur, but for French people it would be a delight. However, for music connoisseurs, it’s different, much like the thrill one gets from listening to Spanish songs like “Secreto” by Anuel AA and Karol G or “BAILA BAILA BAILA ” by OZUNA, where you barely know the language. “Mi-temps” and “Riche” are such good examples where El Yuc writes about himself and others with up-close intensity that is affecting but free of judgement; even when things get straight up electrifying, he remains an objective bystander, even when it comes to his lyrics.

He also knows how to hold the listeners attention with sonic twists and turns like “Intro” with its action-movie-like soundtrack or “Et les princesses” with it’s electric guitars. “Et les princesses” is a delicate and shimmering ballad featuring a breathtaking fireworks display of ascendant guitar that houses an eviscerating piece of storytelling. The tune continues to maintain its appeal up until the end where it closes in a grand finale of guitar shredding. Often, the intensity of El Yuc’s rhythmic manoeuvres are counterbalanced by the weight of the ambience, without exactly being ambient music itself.

L’album des clichés absolutely won’t be for everyone, and that’s by design; it serves its cultural purpose, indifferent to the effort one chooses to put into listening to it. For those willing to partake though, to lean in just a little closer, will be highly rewarded. It makes for a thoroughly convincing argument on the benefits of infusing linguistic influences into different genres and vice versa.