Band creates fusion of French and folk music

Malajube’s lyrics are quirky as can be and littered with strange metaphors for life and… Malajube’s lyrics are quirky as can be and littered with strange metaphors for life and love, but you wouldn’t know it.

That is, unless you’re a French major.

This four-piece comes from Montreal, that’s straight out of French Canada. They’re one of the few French-speaking bands to break into the international music scene.

Labyrinthes, Malajube’s third release, stays true to its French style, but also to one that leans toward the folksier side of rock than their previous albums.

Keyboard and piano play a heavier role than they did in the loud and fast tracks of its older album, Trompe-l’oeil. The notes bring us into songs like ‘Ursuline’ and acoustic guitar steps in on ‘Dragon de glace.’

Piano really shines in Labyrinthes, nearly every track comes with a little keyed back up or a flutter of note at beginning or end.

But the heavy style is still there. ‘333’ jumps straight into a sound that hits you with all it’s got. This crush is simultaneously jarring, yet smooth and welcoming. The instrumental breaks rise like a wave, but not one that ends with you getting water up your nose.

Everything’s a building sound, crushingly loud to soothingly soft.

The guitar solos bring an edge to many tracks, each instrumental break slipping into intricate, heavy sounds that end with serious shredding.

But the raspy whispered French lightens the mood at every other turn. It’s the words that make even the bizarre lyrics seem utterly romantic.

Malajube is French slang for ‘a disease you get up north when it’s so cold your eyeballs freeze,’ the band explained in a Y-Rock podcast last June.

It has been known to sing about a variety of maladies, from cancer to the common cold to urinary tract infections.

To fully appreciate the strange beauty of the lyrics, one need only have access to Yahoo Babelfish. This can help when attempting to decode the band’s eclectic music videos.

Visual representations of Malajube’s songs are pretty average indie-band fare, but the language barrier can get in the way. The bizarre and random videos come fully animated to stop-action to the band in ridiculous situations playing their instruments.

While some things are pretty self explanatory (‘Fille a Plumes’ is loosely translated to Feather Girl), the dead chickens in ‘Porte disparu’ might need a bit more explanation.

‘Port’eacute; disparu’ comes with piano that screams Scooby Doo mystery, which explains the Clue-like murder scenes. It’s the sweetly sung chorus that’s most puzzling. Half mystery, half love song and brightly colored suits that make the song a tad more off-the-wall than usual.

There’s a blend that can’t be denied, so it’s OK to have a few enigmatic music videos for all the ear candy that Malajube promises.

Whether it’s the sweet and fluttery piano of ‘Luna’ or the Nada Surf-like rock sound of ‘Ursuline’ bringing in that crazy bass line, there is something to savor in every track.

All in all, it’s pretty classic indie rock, but the language gives the music a certain appeal, a je ne sais quoi, if you will.

Maybe it’s that the words remain somewhat of a mystery. So no one can fault them for being poor lyricists. Not that they should, because few bands could sing about urinary tract infections and make them sound romantic.

Maybe it’s the fascination with the exotic — even if they are only semi-exotic Canadians. It’s a chance to appreciate the delectable sounds of the French language. It’s the difference between the English ‘Luna’ and the incredibly pleasing sound of the French ‘Luuuuna.’

But really it’s the blend of harshly whispered vocals and perfectly harmonized instruments. It’s that each element stands strong on its own. Every part sounds sweet to the blissfully ignorant English-speaker, to the French-speaking alt-rock fan or the fan of any rich music blend.

Appreciate the sound, the form of the words and the occasional — or not-so-occasional — guitar solo. Savor the fact that Malajube named the band after a frozen eyeball disease. It all spells love.