| Fievel is Glauque | |
| Years Active: | 2018-present |
| Label: | Fat Possum, Math Interactive |
| Current Members: | Ma Clément, Zach Phillips |
Fievel Is Glauque is a musical jazz-pop duo composed of multi-instrumentalist Zach Phillips and singer Ma Clément, based in New York City and Brussels respectively.[1] [2] [3] They are accompanied variously by other musicians such as Raphaël Desmarets, André Sacalxot, Eléonore Kenis, Gaspard Sicx and Anatole Damien.[4]
Phillips and Clément co-founded the band after serendipitously meeting in Brussels in 2018 through a mutual friend after Phillips injured himself on a metal pole; Clément was trained as a nurse and helped provide first aid.[5] [6] The name originates with the band's first saxophonist, Eléonore Kenis, after Fievel Mouskewitz (the protagonist of An American Tail) and the French word glauque, meaning blue-green (as in "glaucous"); or, metaphorically, run-down, sordid, or sleazy. Phillips stated that his "post-hoc rationalized interpretation" of the name was that it was meant to evoke the gentrification of sleazy glauque places.
The band released their first album, God's Trashmen Sent to Right the Mess, in January 2021. The album was recorded live on cassette tape in mono over a series of sessions, with a different assembly of musicians on each track.[7] [8] Their next release, Aérodynes EP, was released in April 2022 and was recorded on tape via overdub. In the fall of 2022, they opened for Stereolab, following the tour with the release of their sophomore album Flaming Swords.[9] Flaming Swords is recorded live in one session.[10] [11] They released the single "I'm Scanning Things I Can't See"/"Dark Dancing" in August 2023, accompanied by a short film directed by Joey Agresta.
The band's forthcoming third studio album Rong Weicknes will be released on October 25, 2024, on Fat Possum Records.[12]
Fievel is Glauque's music has been described by NPR as "jazzy, psychedelic pop" and by Pitchfork as experimental jazz. Miles Bowe of Bandcamp described them as an "intricate [fusion] of jazz, pop, and chanteuse music." Their second album, Flaming Swords, represented an evolution in the lo-fi sound of God's Trashmen, with more complex and rich arrangements as well as skits extracted from movies in the style of the Wu-Tang Clan. The band's lyrics are written in both English and French.
Ma Clément listed Blue Bell Knoll by the Cocteau Twins as a particular favorite, and Whitney Houston and Björk as vocalists she admired. Zach Phillips cited Maher Shalal Hash Baz, Royal Trux, Annette Peacock, MF Doom, and Daniel Johnston as inspirations through both their music and ethoses. He also stated that he admired as pianists Mal Waldron and Carla Bley. Other influences include Quentin Moore, Kurt Weisman, Ruth Garbus, and Ryan Power, as well as a variety of visual artists, writers, and philosophers including Christopher Forgues and Jacques Lacan.