Cocanha are Caroline Dufau and Lila Fraysse a duo who are reimaging traditional Occitan folk. Their new album Flame Folclòre does not just reimagine tradition but ignites it with their exuberance and passion. The band see their music and the folk reclamation as a “subversive, liberating force: collective joy as a political act”.
Similar to Welsh language which was close to disappearing until its resurgence in the 21st Century, the Occitan language was under threat from the French state who were trying to erase it and brand groups seeking to keep the language alive as ‘ecoterrorists’. Since their formation in 2014, Cocanha have been transmuting the folk music of Gascony, the Languedoc and the Pyrenees by taking fragments of the trad repertoire and weaving it into their breath-taking mix of polyphony and the pounding rhythm of the tamborin à cordes (which you can see in action in this video of ‘Territoires’).
From the opening track ‘Remenanuèch’ it’s hard not to be swept up in the undeniable energy of voice and percussion. There is something primal in the frenetic rhythms which drive the vocals like a horse going at full gallop. This is singing that borders on exultation, a euphoric celebration that can excite molecules and get feet skipping like stones across water. As well as the power of tracks such as ‘La Majorana’ and title track ‘Flame Folclòre’, there are tracks like ‘Adissiatz Palhassonaira’ where the two voices are intertwined, mixing sections of syncopation with one voice pulsing on one note while the other moves above and below it before moving into sections where close harmonies flow languorously.
It’s one of the great joys of how the internet has shrunk the world that an album by Cocanha can drop into the Joyzine inbox as well music from Welsh harpist Cerys Hafana, the Scottish pipes of Brìghde Chaimbeul, the microtonal craziness of Angine de Poitrine, Turkish psych from Buzz Ayaz and desert blues from Tamikrest and scuffed up leftfield rap from America’s dälek.
Cocanha’s take on the traditional is as exciting as it is compelling. They mix their own compositions with modified songs from the Occitan repertoire (often removing misogynist lyrics). If they were booked to play a town square on a public holiday it could easily become the kind of uplifting frenzy that you would expect from a warehouse rave. Who says activism must be a dull affair? Cocanha are inspirational and joyous and demonstrate that you can stand up for your rights as well as dance until dawn.
Cocanha: Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram | YouTube
Review by Paul F Cook
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