RODOLPHE BURGER - SOFIANE SAIDI - MEHDI HADDAB

At the turn of a song, a conversation or a memory, the ghost of Rachid Taha haunts us. Today, his shadow shines on the super-group Mademoiselle, a three-headed hydra of strong heads and hotheads.

Rodolphe Burger (vocals, guitar), Mehdi Haddab (electric oud) and Sofiane Saidi (vocals, keyboards, machines, bass) have often crossed paths in recent years. In the company of Rachid Taha, but also in various projects in the rock-electro-oriental register, of which he was the pioneer. So the idea of forming a trio in 2020, during a residency at La Dynamo in Banlieues Bleues, was a natural one.

In contrast to fusions assembled with apparent strings, Mademoiselle is a block, an alloy of egos fused under the fire of fiery music. Fired up by the tension of the strings and the trance of the machines, the trio travels from stage to stage, open-top, in a 504 whose mileage attests to the round-trips between the raï of Sidi Bel Abbès, the blues of the Delta and Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines in Alsace, where the album was recorded.

Released in March 2023, it consists of joint compositions, with lyrics in French and Arabic shared by Rodolphe Burger and Sofiane Saidi, and covers by George Thorogood and Jimi Hendrix, to whom Mehdi Haddab is often compared. Beneath its (mischievously offbeat!) title, Mademoiselle hides three biting personalities whose combination produces a poetry that would please the beloved ghost.

Running time: 1h30