Since their first maxi in 2003, Fundé have come a long way. A debut album, "Présence", in 2006, followed by a live record in 2008, paved the way for this new album, Hymne à la vie. Fundé's recipe may not have changed, but it has been refined. Their roots reggae, tinged with jazz and dub, provides the setting for a genuine talent for composition and songwriting. With "Hymne à la vie", which carries a palpable artistic ambition, Fundé defend their musical and poetic vision.
Poetic, the writing undeniably is. Although Fundé write in both French and English, it is in the language of Molière that the words touch most and ring true. Accepter, on the theme of colonisation (a return to the controversy over the "benefits of colonisation" that MPs wanted to write into the History syllabus), Ames égarées, and Le Poids des mots with its final orchestration all show real finesse in writing and composition.
A certain idea of music, in short, wonderfully illustrated on La peur du lendemain, with its superb lyrics. A track that runs to nearly eight minutes, recorded with the 54 musicians of the Orchestre philarmonique de Melun Val de Seine in 2008 and first heard on the compilation "Melun is not dead". More than a curiosity, a true piece of bravura and the crowning moment of a very accomplished album.
