My guess is that if you know who Cats on Trees are but do not live in France, and did not watch a subtitled French TV drama called Disparue when shown as Disappearance on British TV, you first heard about them here. That series used the outstanding duo's Sirens Call as the fade-out theme as the credits rolled.
And from the same south-western city of Toulouse comes my next French musical recommendation. Let us please hear it for Jain.
There are few morceaux invading French radio space that I enjoy more than Come, the track you see above. Jain, 24 and a big hit in France, is a fascinating young artist who appeals not only to this old codger but to his seven (if very soon eight)-year-old granddaughter, Maya, who also showed impeccable taste in enjoying Cats on Trees.
Jain's album, from which this delicious track is taken, owes much to the melange of life experiences she has had as the daughter of a man working in the oil industry.
Like me, she has lived in Abu Dhabi. Unlike me, she has a French-Madagascan mother in honour of whom she named her album, Zanaka (child in the Malgache language), which has achieved platinum status (meaning 100,000 sales if I understand it correctly).
Her father's work also took her to the Republic of the Congo and there are clear and intentional African influences in her music. She took her Bac (Baccalauréat) while in Abu Dhabi, studied art in Paris and percussion in Pau. Her style is described in French references as "melting pop [sic], pop, reggae, electro, world" and I have seen "folk" mentioned, too, though folk seems to have a rather elastic meaning in French.
But she is - and richly deserves to remain - a star.
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