DELGRÈS

This unlikely Paris-based trio is tearing up the festival and concert stages on both sides of the Atlantic this year. Since we met the band at GlobalFEST in January, they’ve been back twice. Now with their debut album, Mo Jodi, Delgres demonstrates that they are just as compelling on record as live. Bandleader Pascal Danaé traces his roots to Guadaloupe, but his inspiration for this band draws from another musical corner of the Caribbean diaspora: Louisiana. Danaé’s Creole roots come through most strongly in his French-Creole language and the yearning quality of his vocal. But his guitar playing is deeply steeped in swampy, reverb-drenched bayou rock aesthetics. The album kicks off with “Respecte Nou (Respect Ourselves)” a wakeup call to Danaé’s people that unfolds over a bracing, gutbucket rockabilly groove. With a wild edge in his voice—recorded with metallic vintage aura—Danaé sings, “We’ve been shifting cane, moving wood, raising tobacco, carrying read more...