CHANTAL CHAMANDAY is reported as being an Egyptian-born resident of Montreal. So far, so good.
This lavishly packaged CD looks multicultural in a dreamy westernised-hotel-quarter kind of a way. It resonates happily with the exotic travel we all indulge in now, with its mildly ethnic sounding but undemanding music - familiar in supermarkets, hotel lobbies and restaurants the world over.
I was enjoying a lovely meal last year with European work colleagues in a small coastal town in Crete. In the background, wafting through the shade of overhead vines, some local sounding instrumental music was cheering us up. I liked it, and the timbre of the leading wind instrument was interesting. I asked the waiter (he was Egyptian) what the music was being played on. "A CD" he replied solemnly.
So, yes, this music is on a CD. A single release: "You want me", now at track 2 on the album, "exploded onto the British charts, maintaining the enviable Top Five position throughout the summer of 2005" according to her website. Not paying a lot of attention to the top 40 I must say I didn't notice. My usual research assistant (www.everyhit.com) didn't seem to have spotted it either, not in any month or in any position. Perhaps we were looking in the wrong chart? Something more astrological might have done the trick.
The CHANTAL CHAMANDY website (oh damn the web! - every hapless reviewer's last resort) encourages readers to email questions about affairs of the heart, because she loves hearing from us. No replies or lovers' hints are promised, but we do learn of her opera tuition from Carmen Mehta and her commitment to love and the cosmos and so on.
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The CD has a full-colour booklet in warm hues, each page graced with saccharine lyrics (by Chantal) and a different pouting photograph of the bright-eyed Chantal and her excellent teeth and hair. (Stylist and assistant stylist both given credits).
There is also a long list of Montreal musicians, who all played very well on the recording sessions. Chantal is given production and writing credits and her voice is warm and clear. She can sing very well.
If you are tempted, the website gives you the glamorous photographs, a sample of the musical style and plenty of purple prose. I don’t want to be unkind, but my understanding of these things is very limited. I did buy a CD of traditional Cretan music, by the way, and I like it a great deal.
www.chantalchamandy.com
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