It has been a while since we had a chance to write about lounge and pop music on our pages, and Black Viiolet has treated us with “After You,” a marvelous debut full-length album that immediately pulled us into the whirlwind built upon raw emotion, clever songwriting, and impressive musical performance. Helmed by Nicole Laurenne, an exceptional singer-songwriter also known as a frontwoman of The Darts, this amalgam composed of fourteen incredible, soulful, mesmerizing songs carries everything you ever needed from lounge pop music. Lyrically, “After You” explores themes of love, relationships, various sentiments, moods, situations, and circumstances, so it’s a highly relatable material that will immediately resonate with the broader auditorium. Sonically, perhaps Black Viiolet combines the fundamental elements of lounge and pop music, but you’ll notice how some of the finest properties borrowed from jazz, soul, rhythm and blues, trip-hop, and downtempo music found their way into this sonic equation. Nicole Laurenne uses all these additional elements as more than necessary enhancements, accentuations, and other details while simultaneously remaining loyal to the primary sonic direction. Her music expertly blends the traditional sonic movements borrowed from the forties, fifties, sixties, and seventies music yet shines with some of the finest instrumentation that clearly resonates with fresh, unique, innovative, versatile, modern ideas. These levitations between nostalgia and contemporary sound make “After You” such a fascinating album that will not only appeal to the longstanding fans of the mentioned genres but also those picky music enthusiasts looking for a catchy, memorable, and engaging listening experience.
From the onset, it becomes apparent that Nicole Laurenne poured heart and soul while assembling this album. She thought about everything while writing, composing, arranging, and producing these songs. Each composition arrives with a perfect structure, garnered with many profoundly detailed segments, brilliant ideas, and incredible orchestrations. Firstly, she gathered an impressive list of highly skilled musicians. Danny Torgerson’s trumpet performance levitates between the sultry grooves and melancholic swells of the arrangements. Gael Petetin’s intricate and fluid drumming lays an organic and deeply expressive rhythmic foundation. Stef Barral and Evan Strauss provide a rich, grounding low-ends, while the interplay between Basile Conand’s trombone, Sylvain Roudier’s saxophone, and Jean-Gatien Pasquier’s trumpet creates a spirited, textured soundscape that elevates each track to near-orchestral grandeur. Each instrumentation works to the advantage of these numbers, making them intricate yet catchy, to the point you’ll find yourself humming all those melodies. Still, Nicole Laurenne’s soulful, passionate, sincere, confident, emotional, powerful vocal performance steals the show here by elevating these tracks to new heights, commanding attention, and guiding the listening apparatus from scratch to finish. Her impressive vocal range seamlessly balances low, mid, and high notes with precision and finesse while contributing emotional depth and adding a touch of complexity to already intricate structures. She also uses several singing techniques depending on the mood, ambiance, and emotion of these songs, so you’ll stumble upon subtle, raw, whispery vocal lines and more powerful harmonies where her voice truly shines. Both approaches serve these compositions well, demonstrating her dedication to the craft and tremendous experience, knowledge, and talent.
“After You” is also a versatile material where each number sounds unique yet works to the advantage of the entire material. Every song showcases Nicole Laurenne’s fascinating creativity, but together they’re meant to represent a cohesive whole suitable for any mood, situation, or occasion. For example, songs like the opening “About A Woman” offer a modern take on lounge pop garnered with anthemic brass themes and warm keys while “Yin Yang” does quite the opposite, with all those traditional, jazzy, lounge sonic maneuvers transporting you to the era when these styles ruled the airwaves. Tracks like “Devil,” “Never Know,” and “Don’t Leave Me (On The Dancefloor)” pay homage to the nineties lounge music, garnered with themes, melodies, harmonies, and beats that scream with positive, cheerful, danceable vibes. Compositions like “Not It,” “My Baby Just Cares For Me,” “Not About You,” and “New Day” carry calm, soothing, relaxing, ethereal atmospheres where Black Viiolet focuses on contemplation through impressive storytelling lyricism. Each composition brings a different mood and atmosphere to the table. Whether you’re interested in modern or retro interpretations of lounge and jazz music, these tracks will immediately convince you to spin the entire album all over again. “Outta My Mind,” “Stayin In,” and “When U Loved Me” carry some of the finest basslines you’ll hear on the contemporary lounge music. These intricate, vividly hearable, warm-sounding basslines rumble beneath all other instrumentations, providing more than necessary heaviness, clarity, and depth that also complements exceptional, well-accentuated rhythmic patterns. The brass section acts as a perfect backdrop for Nicole Laurenne’s impressive vocal harmonies while simultaneously adding more detail and emotion. This epic sonic journey closes with “Drop” and “You Can’t Afford Me,” another modern take on those aforementioned styles. Besides being so catchy, emotional, and detailed, these tracks also serve as perfect closures of this incredible full-length album.
Nicole Laurenne’s Black Viiolet is one of those music projects you should immediately place on your radar. “After You” resonates with so many standout songs where her experience, knowledge, talent, creativity, ideas, musicianship, and dedication to the craft shine. She poured heart and soul into this material, resulting in fourteen fascinating lounge pop songs that will immediately grab you by the collar and refuse to let go long after this album ends. It’s an epic sonic journey worth revisiting every time you crave some soulful, passionate, emotional, and powerful music, tastefully assembled and expertly performed to satisfy even the pickiest listeners. Therefore, head to Black Viiolet’s Bandcamp page for more information about ordering this lounge pop gem on stunning colored vinyl.
Thoughts Words Action 