Gary's Malajube Review

Who the hell is Malajube?

Midway through the opening track of their stunning third release Labyrinthes I found myself excitedly asking this very question. How could a band this majestic in sound have escaped me? Sun-soaked harmonies, enormous pop choruses and expert musicianship - surely I should know about this band.

The fact they sing entirely in French (with absolutely no desire to start singing in English) would be a huge reason why they’ve never shown up on my radar. Or have they?

After telling anyone who would listen last week how impressed I was with this band, one of my friends politely pointed out that he’d offered to take me to one of their shows last year. When I found out they sang entirely in French I dismissed them with a guffaw and sneered “no thank you.”

A year later - I'm a wiser man...maybe.

So yes, they sing in French but I’m conflicted, because telling you this will inevitably create a language barrier, and quite honestly the best way to appreciate them is with no preconceptions whatsoever. But I implore you to see past this and give them a fighting chance as you won’t be disappointed. There is virtually nothing lost in the translation (so to speak). All the emotion and raw intensity of unrequited love/loss/happiness/sadness comes through loud and clear, even though lead singer Julien Mineau could very well be singing about his groceries for all I know.

Malajube is a band of song crafters and musical auteurs, not content to throw chords against a wall and see what sticks (to be fair, I suppose that's true of the other nominees as well). They build weighty rock songs that swagger and grow to hair-raising crescendos like Ursuline but also create earnest, intimate offerings like Heresie in which Mineau croons about the short lives we all lead.

But for all of their prowess as artistes (oui, oui), what they do best is write absurdly infectious songs that you'll be singing long after hearing them - doubly impressive if you don't speak French. Stand out track Casablanca is right now in a dead heat for my song of the year (right up against Liztomania), and if you can get to the end of Luna without singing the refrain - I'll be amazed.

I posted in the last round of reviews that I didn't expect to like every band in the shortlist, but I certainly didn't expect to be so instantly moved by a band. I apologize now for the fact that this was less of a review and more of a fan letter, but between you and me, Labyrinthes is easily in my top five albums of the year. Based on what I've heard to this point, I could easily see a Polaris Prize win by Malajube and a completely warranted one at that. The competition is thick, but for the first time I've got a clear front runner.