Île de Passion et de Chansons – Marco Payet, 1990

With this album « Île de Passion et de chansons« , Reunionese singer and arranger Marco Payet invites us on a veritable cinematic journey in 1990. The former lead singer of Les Lynx, performer of the hit « Le Monde est une Chanson » (1972), has in fact already written music for films – Le Moutardier, released in 1981. It’s hardly surprising, then, that ‘Île de Passion et de Chansons’ takes us straight by the hand and the landscapes of Réunion flash past our ears, to the rhythm of sega and maloya, mixed with influences that are sometimes rock, sometimes classical – I even surreptitiously thought of Ennio Morricone – or jazz. The synths may have aged a little, but the fresco is a breath of fresh air. The groove is no exception, as on the excellent ‘Mette L’Espoir Dans La Vie’ which closes the album.