“Les Tourments du Ciel” is an album of two shades, light and dark. Just like its author, it swings between dark zones in the shadow of jazz and the light of pop. In his soft but broken voice, Sacha Toorop sketches out eleven naive yet passionate scenes of torment in the life of a man struggling with his anxieties and joys that are both personal and universal. Eleven tracks, each with its own very particular essence. “La Route 69” brings us the surprises of love on a musical bedrock that is burning hot and stifling. “Orient Occident” covers, through the voices of Françoiz Breut and Sacha Toorop, the divide between shared contradictions. “Je Te Reviendrai” reassures us about the intentions of a man who crossed one’s path and was loved. “Aussi Belle Est Douce” enchants us with this “mermaid that can raise mountains” and reminds us of the contradictions in the game of love. The career of “Anne” tells of the tender shock when kids leave home, sometimes far from our hopes.

All this is smothered in rich ripples of music distilled by jazz with clear bursts of unabashed pop. A timeless invitation to be savoured alone or in concert.

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