If there ever was an heir to Gainsbourg with the genes of Tom Waits Arno would be it. After some mixed albums the last years he returns very strong with an album dedicated to the Belgian capital Brussels. Now for those of you who never visited the city, Brussels is a paradox in itself. A mixture of modern EU and NATO offices and ages old houses, squares filled with static restaurant and galleries while around the corner dark pubs house the self side of society. A city which a rich and impressive history but also a city where the police is afraid to enter certain areas. A city where French and Flemish culture are on a continues collision course and you can sense it everywhere. “Dancing in the streets of Belgium / Brussels, where they eat sprouts and raw mussels” is what Arno sings in the title song. Like no other Arno is able to make typical Belgian rock. Dark brown, with a raw edge and somewhat eccentric. Almost like Belgian beer. To Arno Brussels is a city where perfectionism and creativity go hand in hand; chaotic, surrealistic. If it was his goal to translate that to music he succeeded gracefully. Opening song ‘Black dog day’ is a dark steaming rock track which is immediately followed by the introvert ‘Quelqu’un a touché ma femme’ which sounds like he wanders lonesome across the Big Market, city lights glimmering on the rainy cobblestones, building up frustration about who touched his woman. ‘God save the kiss’ sucks up hints from the Arabic community while ‘Mademoiselle’ drunkenly swirls around like a carnival roundabout. The French/English lyrics are often almost as bizarre as poetic, as only Arno can view the world around him. On ‘Elle pense quand elle danse’ he informs us that “qu’il y plus de femmes que de Chinois” (there are lots of women who are Chinese). What we do with this info is beyond me. On ‘Pop star’ he sings “Yeah yeah / I’m a popstar / in her car / on danse le samba / I feel the chacha / on’irai le java”. Musically Arno’s new album (together with Serge Feys) for Naïve records shows that he is king in his own universe. Even a chewed out song like Bob Marley’s ‘Get up, stand up’ turns into a angry bitter work anthem in his hands. Arno gnarls the lyrics over a dusty piano melody, intense. With ‘Brussld’ Arno recaptures himself after the ‘Jus de box’ album and again proves his musical talent and unique position in Europop. Oh, and don’t forget ‘Le lundi on rest au lit’ (On Monday we stay in bed). (review first published on europopmusic.eu)