This morning we’re slowly emerging. It’s Sunday, the night was warm. We begin the routine of quiet days. The MailTape selection of the day is out. Click. And here we go! You never know what you’re gonna get. Like a box of chocolates.
And today, we embark with Crenoka, for a dreamlike episode, reflecting her beautifully motley world.

It’s been over a year since her album Eidolon came out, and as it often comes back to our ears, we thought it was a good reason to invite her and find out what was going on in hers. Because Crenoka is an artist made up of diverse influences, sometimes close, sometimes distant. She plays music that seems to come from another universe, just as it is also curiously familiar. A cosmic and daring Pop, which bears the traces of past adventures, like discreet memories of distant journeys, discussions, contemplations…

This is it ! Today’s cuvée, made up of pieces gleaned at random from beautiful peregrinations, which we share with joy, so that you can share them in turn and so that others can share them too.

Crenoka’s selection

Crenoka: ” So here are the three songs I listen to on repeat,
These are not necessarily in situ inspirations (during the writing of the album)
I admit that I don’t work so much with musical inspiration to write
but rather from moments of life, from things that I observe during the little time I have to let my mind wander, and often that is when I am driving.
I drive
a lot
and I love it
it’s quite meditative
I think I’m often in search of these precious and rare moments
and therefore necessarily
the radio sings “

Cassandra Jenkins - Betelgeuse

Crenoka: ” Cassandra Jenkins’s entire latest album, I think I listen to it at least once a week… and especially this song, which I love.
This album is important because it has been with me since I left Touraine last fall, where I had lived for about ten years. Uprooting yourself isn’t easy, but sometimes it’s important for growing up. “My Light, My Destroyer” is a beacon. A lighthouse in the night that reassures me when it’s the ocean inside me. “

Tamino - The First Disciple

Crenoka: ” This is the last song that troubled me and that I listen to a lot
A priori it’s known, I admit that I don’t know it at all, it’s a bit by chance that I heard this track on the local radio where I live (Les Landes, Wave Radio)
and honestly, I don’t know why but I started to cry while driving because I was so touched by the colors I saw
it stirred my entrails
the lyrics, the string melodies, and above all, the voiceIt’s been a long time since a song made me tremble. “

Madonna - What It Feels Like For A Girl

Crenoka: ” Well, it goes without saying that my love for Madonna is no longer a secret. But I don’t like everything. Among the albums that I still listen to a lot today, there is “Music”
and I like this track because we hear a voice speaking (I only recently discovered that it was Charlotte Gainsbourg lol)
and then it talks about subjects that matter to me:
This song addresses the way we are perceived according to our gender expression, and it must be said, it’s still relevant today (the song is from 2000 anyway…)

Everything is just a series of codes, prejudices, expectations…These are not new topics, and there are thousands of books that analyze them very well.
I find it valuable to be able to talk about it differently, through music
Art has this power to shift the gaze, to open breaches, and I believe that we must cultivate this curiosity and never settle into certainties… “

Anto’s selection

Crenoka - Havin A Bad Day

Anto: ” An ode to the crappy days. After all, why wouldn’t we happily enjoy the bad days? Why not savor all those moments of looseness, find comfort in a form of resignation, and basically let ourselves go? I like this song because it seems to me to claim a spirit of carefreeness. “Lemme have this bad day”. That would be a great protest slogan! Let us manage our shitty days. No worries, the others will be fantastic, but this one is the bad one. Let’s give it thanks. Let’s celebrate it! “

Templime - Beach feat 木村ひより

Anto: ” The good thing about musical exploration is sometimes getting lost far from known areas. We then marvel at discovering new landscapes, other ways of living and understanding music. I added this track to today’s selection because it seems to me to be quite close to the Crenoka vibe, with its curious sounds that form a harmonious and even rather groovy whole, on which a voice that seems slightly digitalized sits. I really like this mix of wacky sounds that contrasts with the feeling of simplicity that emerges from the track. We don’t understand the meaning but we let ourselves be carried away and that’s the main thing. “

Luisa Almaguer - Wey

Anto: ” Here is an artist who overwhelms me. I challenge you not to get goosebumps at this cover of “Harcenos Asi” that she did for Damon Albarn’s Africa Express project. There you have it: Luisa Almaguer is a distributor of goosebumps. She grabs you in one breath with the depth of her voice, unique and inhabited. What she sings is challenging, even if you don’t understand Spanish well. Here, it’s a ballad and a manifesto in the form of exasperation. The exasperation of always having to fight to exist, simply as you are. “

Ladi6 - Guru

Anto: ” Do you remember Aaliyah, the R&B singer who tragically died in the early 2000s? Well, this song made me feel like reliving it for her for a moment. It’s not just about the voice, but rather an ensemble, an atmosphere, or maybe it’s just nostalgia talking… In any case, New Zealand singer Ladi6 delivers a suave and romantic piece, which makes you want to lose yourself in a limbo of scattered feelings. A great song from a great album by a great artist! ”

That’s it for today, friends. Big up to Thibault for his incredible illustration, which perfectly fits the episode’s theme. Thanks also to Crenoka for this wonderful, dreamlike selection.
Enjoy the summer, and see you next week for new adventures.