by Ljubinko Zivkovic (@zivljub)
Electro-pop in all shapes and forms seems to be one of the preferred musical vehicles among the artists coming from France and Belgium. Quite a few of these artists have come up with some excellent music in the last few decades, often setting the pace within the genre. Count within that list French-born, Belgium based singer-songwriter Charlène Darling, who has just released her third full-length offering La Porte (The Door).
Darling, known to her parents and close friends as Charlotte Kouklia is also a member of a quartet that goes under Rose Mercie, and has already released two solo singles, various CD-R releases, and one widely distributed full-length. It took her a few years or so to share another solo effort, but judging by the nine tracks (and a voice recording) here, it was quite worth the wait. Darling is all about pushing the boundaries, combining all the left-field elements she could with her songwriting skills, from some subdued rhythmic elements akin to late great Lizzy Mercier Descloux ("Tout s'efface") to the pop experimentation of R. Stevie Moore ("Les gros cheveaux," "Au fleuve"), veering into subdued psych pop at times ("Abril Terra").
Throughout though, Darling doesn't simply stick to any of the cannons of electro or any other kind of pop but uses the backing of her intriguing guitar playing and the rhythm section to create some excellent music that covers so many bases without making any missteps at all. With La Porte, Darling has come up with another effort that successfully defies genres and comes up with utterly listenable music.