Les Nubians are back! After several years of low visibility the beguiling Afro-pop duo Les Nubians are on tour in America in advance of the projected 2011 release of their new album "Nu Revolution." One of the more interesting artists to surface in the past fifteen years, Les Nubians have transcended what, in America at least, seemed like novelty status. For instance the probably were the only artist to have a French-language urban ac hit, with "Makeda" , a recording that sounded like nothing else on commercial radio.
Composed of two French-born sisters, Helen and Celia Faussert, Les Nubians emerged as part of a wave of trans-cultural artists that has included the likes of Zap Mama and, more recently, M.I.A.--artists are draw on differently cultural currents quite naturally, given the globalized reality of human experience these days. There is danger in this.....it is easy to be trivial, to blend superficial elements of different cultures with out tapping their deeper essence. an exercise in imaging and referncing. But when when this process stems from authentic experience, and the artist in question has sufficient talent to create something new out of different cultural elements, the results can be quite exhilirating.
Les Nubians came by their trans-culturalism quite naturally. Born of a Camerounian mother and French father, and growing up in cosmpolitan Paris, where large communities of Africans, Middle Easterners and Asians have for decades been a part of the Parisian kaleidoscope, they certainly were formed by a wide-ranging cultural experience. And then, in an interesting twist, the family moved to Chad, which was a much starker, an quite alien reality. It was there that they began to sing.
When they returned to Paris, they were on the scene, sponsoring poetry slams and singing acapella together. In 1998 there first album was released in Europe to immediate acclaim and then in American in the following year. The success of their hit "Makeda" in America was especially notable as mainstream America has generally been far more resistant than Europea to popular music sung in foreign languages and America's commercial radio has been far more segmented and homogenized. But somehow it all worked--the sister's exotic looks, Afropean fashion sense and the quite irresistible appeal of their music, which may have seemed lightweight at first but somehow worked. It was like a perfect souffle...all the ingredients in balance--various Afropop styles, hip hop, electronica, and European pop. They were invited to be guests on numerous other artist's recordings.
A second album followed in 2003, with the same appealing mix of sounds and rhythms as on the first album but not quite the same quality of songwriting...and then, nothing for several years, except the release of a poetry project featuring a number of poets.
The music of the new album Nu Revolution is more diverse...ranging from pure African percussion to electronicized semi-dance music. The quality of songs is quite good and the sisters sound as delightful as ever. 80% of the lyrics are in French, so there is no overt attempt to "dumb down" their sound for American audiences. It plays through as an album, an evolving experience. While we wait for the album to come out, Les Nubiens is crossing the U.S. on tour, having started on the West Coast and hitting New York City on October 15th. There I think they will be gratified to see that despite their years of reduced visibility, they have not been forgotten!
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