Claude Fontaine ·
King Tubby ·
La Mer ·
Love THe Way You Love ·
Lover's Vow ·
Rock Deadrick ·
Ronnie McQueen ·
Steel Pulse ·
Tony Chin ·
Ziggy Marley ·
Claude Fontaine x Love The Way You Love/Lover's Vow
Claude Fontaine is returning two gorgeous new songs titled “Love The Way You Love” & "Lover’s Vow.” "Love the Way You Love" is a prayer for an ardor then unrealized, but later fulfilled - a levitating hymn of golden sand and coral blue waters, heartache with only one antidote. Fontaine tells us “The enduring love songs of artists such as Ken Boothe, Alton Ellis, and Susan Cadogan inspired “Love The Way You Love”. At once prayer, myth and reverie. A mirage of love, embedded in the marble of an ancient square, floating on a shimmering sea.”
On the b-side, she explains “Lover’s Vow” is a mantra, an ode to a boundless love and devotion. Paradiso, awash in sacred promises. A terracotta poem.”
La Mer is a transportive listening experience from start to finish. At times, Fontaine channels Jane Birkin as backed by Jorge Ben. Françoise Hardy locked into sonic reverie with Mulatu Astatke, or Margo Guryan making lovers rock. None of this is a happy accident. For her second opus, Fontaine assembled some of the most gifted musicians of the last five decades. First and foremost is her co-writer and producer, the multi-platinum Grammy-Award winning Lester Mendez, whose resume includes everyone from Grace Jones and Baaba Maal to Shakira and Nelly Furtado.
As with Fontaine’s self-titled first album, Tony Chin, foil for the likes of King Tubby, Dennis Brown, Lee Perry, Jackie Mittoo, Sly & Robbie, appears on guitar, bringing the orphic tones expected from someone who has played with some of the greatest reggae musicians of all-time. On bass, there’s Ronnie McQueen, one of the co-founders of Steel Pulse. Sergio Mendes’ percussionist, Gibi Dos Santos, supplies propulsive locomotion. So does Ziggy Marley’s drummer, Rock Deadrick. And that’s just the abridged list of storied instrumentalists who appear on La Mer.
La Mer is a vulnerable work that taps into a profound wellspring of imagination, unbeholden to trends or popular whim. If it were an old relic, it might be that record collector’s lucky hidden treasure, that dusty gem that was waiting to be discovered in an attic. But this is a new moment that you can discover now, and thankfully so - its a romantic message in a bottle, one that, when opened and unraveled opens you up to a new realm of possibilities and wonder. Something that allows you to close your eyes and effortlessly time travel through the past, present, and future. A trip to the pristine island of the mind, but one made immaculately real by the genuine love and care of its creators.