Jef Barbara

A cross-dressing Québécoise, Jef Barbara reminds us that the 80s influence still holds sway over contemporary music, especially when it's a bit uderground. With his fragile, disembodied voice, Jef harks back to the French cold-wave, and his half-dandy, half-queer persona would have perfectly suited that era. What could be irritating in others somehow works for him, and the melodies he composes resemble makeshift jobs that steadily grow on you. Shot like VHS tapes, grainy and dirty, his videoclips show clearly that he is stuck at a point 20 or 30 years ago. Listening to his album 'Contamination' or his latest single 'Pas gentille', an improbable reprise of Françoise Hardy, is to swallow a strong shot of nostalgia.