Manu Louis is Belgian, lives in Berlin and escapes from winter in Spain. He travels with a village of electronic instruments and video projections from popstars or animals to deliver passionate performances that eventually switches gears into an impromptu discotheque that gets the audience moving.
His music mixes high and low culture to create provocative and decontextualized juxtapositions. His general blueprint remains the same throughout all of his efforts, but the ingredients he uses may vary: from dissident chanson française, genial dilettante, avant-garde composer, new beat, old hit, art-pop & hard bop.
Today, Manu Louis premieres the first single from new album Cream Pardade due out May 10, 2019 on Belgian Igloo Records, a quality label that has been around since 1978 (!) Cream Parade is after the Kermesse Machine (2017) the second album by experimental music wizard Manu Louis. In other news, Manu Louisannounced a huge list of tourdates
Cream Parade, his new album is a disoriented walk led by synthetiseurs. It will be released in May 2019 onIgloo Records and will follow Kermesse Machine (2017) his first album. The last two years he performed at over 200 festivals and clubs across Europe and Asia.
Apart from his solitariy activities, the last years Manu Louis also composed music for the 30 piece ensemble Orchestra Vivo, L’Orchestre de chamber Liège, Plastic Fanfare (a group of 200winds & percussions), Spanish artistEscif and chinese band Dawanggang.
On the new album Cream Parade Manu’s voice gives words to a narrator obsessed by social and existential disorientation. This parade is conducted by the Unnamable, a nebulous shadow, a cream made of a President’s organ check-up, a love song about data storage, Internet kissing goodbye to the human race, or rebirthing as a tardigrade.
Cream Parade consists of a variety of dance hits, ballads and short instrumentals. The dancier songs are led by a tight groove of robotic synthesizers and hiphopping marching bands. It’s funny, funky but anxious too. Ballads and short instrumentals are used as a 20th century lyricism reminder, working as a sentimental counterpoint to the computer’s dance. Like always in Manu’s music, a groovy Wagner ghost is hiding somewhere.
The album was recorded and produced in Berlin, mixed by Dirk Dresselhaus (Schneider T.M.) and masterised by Rashad Becker. Extra human flavour can be heard with London singer Heidi Heidelberg, wild saxophonist Greg Tirtiaux, electronic church organist Adi Gelbart and Brazilian percussionist Nylo Canella.
Cream Parade Tour
- 07 may // LISBON (Pt) - Bus
- 09 may // PORTO (Pt) - Café au Lait
- 10 may // PONTEVEDRA (Esp) - Liceo Mutante
- 11 may // SANTIAGO (Esp) - La Melona
- 12 may // BRAGANçA (Pt) - Dedos Bionicos
- 15 may // CHEMNITZ (Deu) - Odradek
- 16 may // PRAGUE (CZ) - Avoid Floating Gallery
- 17 may // MUNICH (Deu) - Tamtam Skybar
- 18 may // STUTTGART (Deu) - Neue Schachtel
- 25 may // LIEGE (Bel) - L'an vert
- 27 may // GENT (Bel) - Trefpunt
- 29 may // LILLE (Fr) - Macondo
- 31 may // LE BLEYMARD (Fr) - Festival d'Olt
- 01 jun // LYON (Fr) - L'atelier des canulars
- 06 jun // LUCERNE (Ch) - Lucerne School of Art & Design
- 08 jun // WINTERTHUR (Ch) - GS31 Festival
- 10 jun // ZURICH (Ch) - Le Boschbar
- 12 jun // BERLIN (Deu) - Schokoladen (Fourtrack on stage)
- 13 jun // BASEL (Ch) - Renée
- 14 jun // SAARBRUCKEN (Deu) - Tba
- 15 jun // GENEVA (Ch) - Baz'art Festival
- 20 jun // BRUSSELS (Bel) - Le Brass
- 28 jun // BAYONNE (Fr) - Festival EHZ
- 29 jun // CAEN (Fr) - La demeurée
- 04 jul // MALMO (Se) - Far i Hatten
- 05 jul // HARPLINGE (Se) - Harp Art Lab Festival09 jul // FENGERSFORS (Se) - Not Quite
- 20 jul // BARCELONA (Esp) - Festa Major del Poble Sec
- 26 jul // HAMBURG (Deu) - Off the Radar Festival
- 03 au // DALSBRUK (Fin) - Festival Norpas
- 04 au // DALSBRUK (Fin) - Festival Norpas (Plastic Fanfare)
- 29 au // MANCHESTER (U.K.) - The Peer Hat
- 06 se // BELFAST (N-Irl) - The Black Box
- 12 sep // ROUBAIX (Fr) - Crossroads Festival
- 14 sep // TINTIGNY (Bel) - Ans'Art
- xx sep // JAPAN TOUR - Support tour for Xiu Xiu
- xx oct // BRUSSELS - Festival Francofaune (+Band)
- 24 oct // LIEGE (Bel) - CC Chênée
- 25 oct // CHARLEROI (Bel) - Le Vecteur