Concert: Zoe Heselton & Sister Outsider

Zoe Heselton, a British poet, singer-songwriter, guitarist based in Strasbourg, surrounds herself with a collective of five musicians she has met over the years.

Their collaboration gives birth to an "incandescent folk," at the crossroads of shamanic ritual and a cry of love addressed to a sometimes troubled life. This musical project draws inspiration from a wide range of traditions: folk, blues, and flamenco music, as well as spoken word poetry and eclectic, experimental influences. The result is a vibrant music, both intimate and lively, blending depth and spontaneity. Zoe Heselton's deep and steady voice carries lyrics that oscillate between vulnerability and strength, evoking darkness as well as paths to healing. Her songs, sometimes melodic, sometimes dissonant, take the form of litanies or poems, mixing tenderness and rage. Accompanied by her Sisters, from backgrounds as varied as free jazz, noise, or post-punk, she fuses contemporary sounds—electric guitar, bass—with older instruments like the tanbur, the Ottoman-Turkish long-necked lute, the hurdy-gurdy, or cowbells. Their musical universe, both traditional, experimental, marginal, and improvised, creates a unique, poetic, and sincere offering at the intersection of these multiple currents.