In The Mushroom Type, the new album under the moniker of Fabiola, Fabrice Detry casts off the moorings of careerism to get on the little bike that rolls around in his head, preferring creative emergence to the sirens of conformism. With this new point of departure, the Belgian with distant Breton roots confirms his hybrid but never haphazard approach, combining melodic talent and pop immediacy, all crowned with a cerebral, sometimes quasi-mystical psychedelia.
The Mushroom Type was born in a turbulent period for the musician. To exist the album required a total letting go, coupled with a surge of madness and an irrepressible desire to break and rebuild. This practice of collage permeates the entire process of writing and recording demos. In the studio, Fabrice surrounds himself with the cream of Belgian and French indie music. Production and mixing were entrusted to his long-time collaborator, Daniel Offermann (Girls in Hawaii, Halo Kosmo). On stage, Léa Kadian (Kunde), Tim Clijsters (ex-leader of BRNS) and Aurélien Auchain (Mountain Bike) join the adventure. Their avowed aim: “to bridge the gap between the strangeness of the first demos and the band’s live energy”. A successful gamble when listening to the album, which combines polished production, inventive sound work and a blatant desire to surprise listeners and take them into new territory. Deeply cathartic, the album’s lyrics are chiselled, hard-hitting and full of powerful imagery. Fabrice Detry uses slogans to assert a powerful intimate and political commitment, scratching iconic figures and revealing himself unvarnished to the world.
The Mushroom Type takes its name from the musician’s passion for mushrooms, hiding in the forest that gigantic network known as mycelium. A fitting image to describe an album rich in atmospheres and sound worlds, which never ceases to amaze. With a certain modesty, Fabrice Detry finds his way to himself through infectious pop songs of a new kind.
So far the promo talk. I have never heard of them before (for as I far as I can remember), they just popped up with recent single releases. The result wasn’t bad and the name of Delfosse rang a bell, somehow. It’s a Belgian pearl, so I went all the way for it after a nice ride with my bike and a fresh head (and pumped up legs) …
Watery Base starts softly, dreamy kind of layers (and sometimes even multi layered vocals). I’m just missing a dolphin sound. I have to get used to the vocals a bit (they are special). The guitars took me out of my zen-dom a bit as they suddenly pop up and shred the peace away, together with the drums. The end is a bit funny and returns to the zen-situation.
Tarantella the disco kid awakens and brings it in full force. I hear a bit of a catchy sound and cool guitar play. Lucie'ss backings are nicely done here. The disco sounds changes over time into a more poppy one with a good tempo.
The Wing brings in spring with the first sounds. It’s a sweet duet between Fabrice and Morgane Delfosse. A lovely song with a great vibe. Show me your smile and happiness!
Bonify builds up slowly: just vocals and a guitar with the drummer softly ticking. Afterwards the songs becomes a bit eclectic, chaotic, psychedelic, non-conformist … as if one ate the wrong mushroom.
Circumstance Is Doom rocks a bit more, but still with a bit of that mushroom feeling, a slice of a wall of sound. It’s a strange song, with lots of twists concerning the tempo and genre.
Hetomesnil is the strangest title I ever read somewhere. The music starts in a normal way and then becomes more and more psychedelic and really strange. I’m not sure where we are going here and on top there are no vocals (just something that sounds like backings).
The Nail On The Head is a catchy summer breeze kind of song with a great global sound. Be ready to feel happy after listening to this one!
The Freak sounds like a cool jam with improvised lyrics. The song mixes disco with pop and psychedelia. The synthesizer plays a great role here. I also like the backings done by Lucie Rezsöhàzy.
Don’t You Look There sounds a bit arty-farty with a lot of variation in the sound: from disco punk to rock over a momentum that reminds me a bit of The Doors. Towards the end the song gets some catchy choruses.
Sahune brings in some nice heat: feels like a summer song (hence the acoustic guitar). I think I even hear an organ or is it a twist in the synth? The vocals sound sweet and nice.
Conclusion: it’s a strange psychedelic album (hence the mushrooms) with some nice songs. Is it my style? No. Is it bad? No! I’m sure fans of Fabiola will love this album! I’m happy I tried it out and used a day off to work on it and get into their world. I wouldn’t mind seeing them on stage if another great band is on the same stage, same day. Good luck folks!
