QUINQUIS

Primarily sung in the Breton language, Emilie Quinquis' second album for Mute takes us into the salty depths of mermaid-infested waters to be serenaded by her luscious, electronic siren call.

Over eight tracks, she weaves stories about mermaids that would like to be sailors, mermaids have fallen in love with mermaids, and mermaids that were cursed for wanting to love like humans, all the time celebrating the enchantment, the power and the mystery of these fantastical creatures, and the role they play, especially in communities with direct links to the sea. Written, produced and performed by Émilie Quinquis and the celebrated producer Gareth Jones. A card drawn from Brian Eno & Peter Schmidt’s Oblique Strategies instructed her to “find a safe area, use it as an anchor” and, after finding her space, she set to work. Ideas emerged acoustically, and were built upon with modular and analogue electronics, creating an immersive and singular world driven by Émilie’s sublime vocals.

The album is sung mainly in Breton with two guests singing in their own languages: triple harpist and composer Cerys Hafana sings ‘Blaz an holen’ in Welsh, while labelmate, Desire Marea, sings ‘Inkanuko’ in Zulu. ‘Inkanuko’ (meaning “desire” in Zulu) opens the album with Émilie’s gossamer voice, before electronics give way to Desire Marea’s tender vocal as the pair deliver surely the first track sung in both Breton and Zulu. Émilie explains that, “…it’s a song about making sure that little flame inside of you is not going to die. Desire was an amazing person to help kick off the idea for the whole album.”