STARTIJENN

They have come a long way since they were teenagers, when five students from the Diwan secondary school in Brest (an immersive school in Breton language) decided to create the band Startijenn. And who would have said, not even them, that twenty-five years later, they would still be present on the Breton stages with a seventh album in their bag.
This emblematic band of Breton trance presents itself today in a new and unexpected light, while succeeding in the tour de force of being both mainstream (in festoù-noz) and experimental, as with El-TaQa in 2013.
Here is an original group that stands out from the traditional scene, with a musical identity that is at once Breton, modern and hard-hitting.
On Talm Ur Galon (the beating of a heart), they offer us nine original compositions, both traditional music largely revisited, as well as current compositions by each other.
Over the years, the members of Startijenn have become used to surprising us. Once again, they do not deviate from the rule, with songs, Talm Ur Galon and Skilfoù An Noz (The claws of the night), that the most modern rappers would not deny, with Youenn Roué singing in Breton.
Throughout this astonishing and explosive album, the musicians free themselves from traditional codes and to do so, show an overflowing imagination. We note electro influences with an almost hypnotic rhythm.
The sounds are diverse and varied, often far from the Breton tradition.  And yet, from far and wide, we can recognize a plinn, a ridée, a rond de Saint-Vincent, a kas a-barh or a waltz.
The bombarde and biniou duet that has characterized the band since its beginnings is still present here, supported by the vibrating accordion of Tangi Le Gall-Carré at the best of his talent. While the crystalline sound of Tangi Oillo's guitar and Julien Stévenin's energetic bass reinforce this impression of sound power.
Don't be fooled, most of the tracks are danceable, even if their form may surprise or even confuse. But after all, isn't that what they've been used to for the past twenty-five years?
Tonic, powerful, unclassifiable, but so endearing, Startijenn's sometimes disconcerting music is once again unique and expressive.

PAKER PROD 034 - www.pakerprod.bzh