Equidad Barès is best known for her work with
Philippe Eidel as a singer on Mammas, and this solo album is reminiscent of that work without being as listener-friendly.
Mes Espagnes is French for "my Spains," and that is an appropriate name for a collection that encompass several musical traditions from the country of her birth, especially the Asturian music of her mother's family and the Judaeo-Spanish tradition that had to hide itself from official persecution for centuries. Barès is definitely the centerpiece of this album. Most songs take their time and let her wring every bit of emotion out of the words. A few of the faster numbers like "Niña y Viña (Girlhood and Wine)," a bouncy Jewish traditional about the difficulty of hanging on to virginity, would really have raised the album's energy level. Of course, it's not supposed to be flamenco --
Mes Espagnes hasn't a single guitar on it. It features the acoustic and electric hurdy-gurdy of Barès' adopted French horn, bagpipe, clarinets, tenor violin, and a variety of infrequently used percussion instruments. As could be expected, there is a lot of atmosphere here. "Campanilleros (The Bellringers)" for example, sounds like Barès is being accompanied solely by a French horn in the lonely mountains as she bemoans the loss of her love. This album is not for everyone; two-thirds of it is at midtempo, which is simply too much for many people. But for those interested in a variety of timbres and a lot of controlled passion,
Mes Espagnes is a good bet.