Ciel A Vendre’s theatrical rock evokes a totalitarian universe in which man goes mad, rock at once black and poetic, but also reflexive and in the tradition of the Pink Floyd’s conceptual albums and outlook on the world. As a bonus, in the wake of David Bowie, a touch of glam rock brought about by the singer and his acolytes who embody the characters in Cendres-Ville. The French text is sung and slammed. “Hors du rang” (Breaking ranks) – already downloadable – is a punchy single out of the album to come, entitled Les Pieds Dans le Vide. The titles say it all.

By Cecilia Hamel – Author

Bruno Toffano – © – Copyright 2015

Saturday March 12, 2015, Ciel A Vendre previewed at Dig it Records in Geneva Hors Du Rang (Breaking ranks), a single of their first album, Les Pieds Dans Le Vide (Feet Dangling In Space).

Half an hour before the mini concert of presentation, the atmosphere was lively and relaxed at Dig it Records; the walking space between the rows of vinyl records being hardly enough to hold everyone. The guests were welcomed in a warm and careful way. A pro outlook for Ciel A Vendre, indicative of a perfectly orchestrated response to the audience, in this case a band of professionals, relatives, friends and fans of the group. The only hitch, but for a good cause: draughtsman Nibe Mumba, who created the visual icon of Ciel A Vendre, would not dedicate his little green rabbits because his heir decided to be born that very evening – a good omen, no doubt.

A few pearls of a glam rock opera narrating a black story over sixteen titles

The hubbub died down when musicians and singers took to the stage as a reduced formation of five instead of the standard seven. Followed four titles in an acoustic version of authentic French rock going wild, with eccentric makeups and beautiful moving voices, for a flash introduction to the mechanism of album and concerts – already seven of those, with the real thing yet to come! Each of the sixteen titles of the yet-to-come album is to be taken as a chapter in a story. The male singer impersonated with charisma the two protagonists, either pseudo-hero and anti-hero or a hero and his double – several levels of meaning were at play, while the two female singers provided the rest of the musical texture. But tonight, only one of the two was here to play opposite and fill the space with her crystalline voice.

The totalitarian universe of Cendres-Ville, the loony on the run and the inspector

The titles offered as previews for this showcase, including of course “Hors du rang” (Breaking ranks), took us into the universe of Cendres-Ville (Ashtown), where Inspector Norbert, who reigns supreme over it, is hunting Deceitful Bernard, a madman at large who spreads panic. These two antagonistic men seem at times to be one and the same two-headed individual. Are we in the inner battleground of a person in full degeneration: the inspector as hero in a totalitarian world whose shady side is on the loose and the mad and deceitful anti-hero who is more alike his rival than meets the eye? There is room for doubt, as brought about by the treasure hunts throughout the inspector’s investigation. An answer emerges in the last piece under performance, “Le retour du coucou” (The cuckoo is back), which will also be the last title on the album-to-be.

A baroque detective novel kind of rock between nightmare and initiatory tale

The last title performed, heart-rending and poetic, stood out against the industrial tones of the rock that preceded and left us with a character drowning. The words evoked images of mental asylum and a reference to the cult-film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. A crack in appearances had happened, the frail border between Deceitful Bernard and Inspector Norbert was blown to pieces as in a coup de theatre. It was either getting awake from a nightmare or beginning an initiatory dream. Did everyone present see the pause sign of the fable, given that, with dense text, tight plotting and choreographed body language, the menu was already rich? Besides, “Le retour du coucou” took us elsewhere, as chiselled by the hang, a rare instrument whose amazing sounds (between those of a harp and a gamelan) provided the stitched background to the muffled moans of the singer (Bernard and Norbert now as one) and the sharp surges of the narrating female singer.

Four titles to comprehend this complex and riveting glam-rock opera, that was too short. The guests would have welcomed more of the same. But a showcase is meant to whet curiosity. Mission accomplished. What’s left for us to do now is wait until Les Pieds Dans Le Vide is released in record shops and online.

By Cecilia Hamel | Free lance journalist  © – Copyright 2016