Jolly idea is Cover Songs In Inferno (PROHIBITED RECORDS PRO 062 CD), credited to the duo of French / Belgian musicians Don & Françoiz – 10 cover versions of songs drawn from the history of rock, pop, chanson and folk music (kinda) and all ditties themed on “the Devil”, Mister Pitchfork himself. Accordingly we get ‘Planet Caravan’ by Black Sabbath and ‘Season of The Witch’ by Donovan, plus The Kinks, The Cramps, and Bonnie Prince Billy are represented, among many others.
Given such a strong “satanic” theme to the material, it’s disappointing how every song lacks any diabolical force – lacks any force at all, in fact. The album ends up as limp cocktail lounge fare, with tasteful chord changes from Don Nino (the instrumentalist) and wispy trembles from the lips of Françoiz Breut, who is about as far from a genuine torch singer as a bottle of Perrier is from 88% proof vodka. I’m not yet sure if this mannered, distanced irony is the “point” of this record, but it fails to communicate anything of the truth of these songs, some of which – in their original form – are great examples of songcraft. I’d hoped ‘Daemon Lover’ might have been their version of Child 243, a supernatural ballad which also made it to America as ‘The House Carpenter’, but it turns out be a rotten Shocking Blue song.
Don Nino is an alias for Nicolas Laureau and he runs this label Prohibited Records, while Breut is also a painter and graphic artist and did the cover art here. Visually appealing (more so than the music); at least she’s done her homework and studied how medieval painters used to render fire and flames. Vinyl pressing is available. (26/05/2023)