ParIs coMbo announces neW aLbuM

“Quesaco?” Is out May 6, 2022 on sIx Degrees recorDs

Paris Combo, the French quintet Variety describes as possessing “a seemingly endless supply of catchy hooks and imaginative lyrics,” is back with a new album, Quesaco? The full-length release is their seventh studio album, but also the last recorded with the group’s late singer/songwriter Belle du Berry, who died suddenly on August 11, 2020, aged just 54, following a brief battle with cancer.

Hailed by Billboard as “a vocalist/accordionist and lyricist extraordinaire,” Belle was the beating heart of the group and her passing was a tragic loss for all those touched by her charismatic presence as a performer and songwriter during a career spanning 30 years and over 100 songs. She had been the unforgettable voice of the band’s elegantly intoxicating and joyful take on the world, her quirky, wise and often humorous songs providing a welcome antidote to the stresses and strains of everyday life. For the legions of mourning fans worldwide, who until now had been resigned to consoling themselves with the band’s nevertheless impressive back catalogue of eight albums, an unexpected and exciting parting gift has arrived in the form of the new release. Completed just before Belle died, Quesaco? is now being released worldwide on May 6 on the U.S. label Six Degrees Records.

Twenty-five years have passed since the band was founded, but it’s clear from listening to the 11 songs on the new album that Paris Combo have lost none of their magic. Quintessentially Parisian, yet timeless and international with a deceptively light touch, their music weaves together elements of Django Reinhardt-inspired gypsy jazz and Latin music, as well as exotic and cinematic influences, and is a testament to the group’s long journey together.

Four years after their last album Tako Tsubo, Belle and the group’s core members, David Lewis on piano and trumpet, Potzi on guitar and François Jeannin on drums, are joined by Benoît Dunoyer de Segonzac on bass and Rémy Kaprielan on percussion and vocals. Right from the outset we recognize Belle’s whimsical take on life in the title she chose

for the new album —

Quesaco?

, an ancient Provençal expression, which might be translated as “What

is

all this?,” or “What’s happening?” and which lends a charming, old-world nuance to her questions about the mystery of existence.

Free Radicals, a musical, political, and cultural force in Houston for over two decades, announce highly anticipated new album White Power Outage Volume 2. The 25-track project is the follow up to volume 1, named “Local Album of the Year” in the Houston Chronicle, and continues their quest to put an end to white supremacy.

Free Radicals’ White Power Outage Volume 1 (2020) made waves with the press, radio, and fans through its diverse sound and beautiful mix of vocalists and musicians representing shades of Black, LatinX, white, Asian, mixed, and indigenous people that make the up the culture of Houston Texas. They came together to make revolutionary music, and to demand an end to the white supremacy in the arts, culture, politics, the economy, and in their personal lives. The album received critical praise from the Houston Press, Black Grooves, and Bandcamp Daily, which called it, “…a defiant soundtrack to our turbulent times, penned in solidarity with the victims of state-sponsored violence and systemic oppression."

Free Radicals have been working on beats for the White Power Outage series for many years before COVID hit. Nick Cooper of the band explains, “As we were wrapping up volume 1, Black Lives Matter was in the streets, and we were collaborating with rappers, singers, and poets of color around the world, all experiencing the pandemic, recording, and white supremacy differently. By the time volume 1 was named “Local Album of the Year” in the Houston Chronicle, we were already in the middle of producing volume 2. The band has been rehearsing and recording on each other’s lawns, or in parks. We started recording every rehearsal and quickly cut up and looped, and sent to our collaborators to start writing for it.” The result for Volume 2 is another batch of 20 plus songs featuring a revolutionary spirit and performed on real acoustic instruments. Every Free Radicals album includes a rich mix of sax, trumpet, trombone, bass, guitar, percussion, and tuba without ever using MIDI.

The genre-bending compilation is packed full of highlights. Leading up to the album, Free Radicals released their single “Bipartisan Baby Jail” featuring Michele Thibeaux, Henry Alvarez and Karina Nistal. The single also includes 4 year old kids from Peace Camp Houston and combines singing, rap, and poetry over funk. Mutiny On The Bayou features one of Houston’s longest standing and best rappers, D-Ology, and rips open the suppressed history of Houston's 1917 massacre of Black soldiers. Checkpoint / Dompass / Hajiz sees Lindi Yeni expressing her lifetime of experience with human rights and South African apartheid to this track. Yeni is joined by Jitsvinger, EQuality, and Prince Alfarra. On Killer Bee Honey, the Next Generation, Cherria Rattler enlists her daughter Marium to re-record and expand on the track originally recorded by Cherria 22 years ago, protesting the destruction of the planet by shortsighted and greedy men. Other highlights include the Karina Nistal led “El Ritmo Contra Gitmo,” “Pokke Koebês” by Jitsvinger who nails white conquest of South Africa in Afrikaans, Karega Ani’s poem “Crystal Stare,” and instrumental track “Manifestación En El Centro Hoy.” These are just a few examples from their thought provoking politically charged album!

Free Radicals are proud to release their new album White Power Outage Volume 2 on April 8th. Come celebrate with the Free Radicals on April 30th at the Continental Club in Houston, TX. More info at https://continentalclub.com/houston#event=70661390;instance=20220430190000.

ONLINE:

· Website: freerads.com

· Instagram: Instagram.com/freeradicalsband

· Facebook: facebook.com/freerads

· Youtube: https://youtube.com/user/freeradsmusic