Stéphane Hoareau 
RITUAL RIOTS 

With Ritual Riots, Stéphane Hoareau delivers an album deeply rooted in créolité, conceived as a force of unity, resistance, and transmission. A Réunionese guitarist recognized for his role in the emergence of new world music movements, he continues here his commitment to revitalizing Réunion maloya, boldly and creatively transforming it into a living, open, and contemporary heritage.

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Through his collective projects and his radical approach to musical ritual, he develops an aesthetic in which trance becomes a universal language. The press regularly praises the power of his artistic vision: “An incandescent maloya, driven by rock energy and a rare spiritual dimension” (Radio Nova).

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Throughout his career, he has explored multiple territories — from his electric reinterpretation of maloya with Trans Kabar to his jazz and collective improvisation projects — always guided by the same intention: to transmit and reinvent a living heritage.

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A thinker of the collective as much as an architect of sound, Stéphane Hoareau conceives Ritual Riots as a musical adventure without hierarchy, where each musician is both performer and active participant in the ritual. On guitar, backing vocals, and musical direction, he surrounds himself with an ensemble whose strength lies in listening, trance, and shared energy. The percussion and voices of David Doris and Claude Saturne, both deeply rooted in Creole traditions, bring an organic and ritual dimension. The double bass of Théo Girard, a major figure on the jazz and improvised music scene, together with the drumming of David Aknin — both precise and incantatory — infuses a constant movement between pulse, groove, and freedom.

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The album’s musical trajectory is enriched by a strong spiritual dimension, nourished by an encounter with Haitian Vodou. The correspondences between Réunionese and Haitian rites reveal the power of trance music as a vehicle for memory, transformation, and cultural resistance. These rituals, transmitted from generation to generation, embody true “cultural riots,” safeguarding the survival of Creole languages and identities.

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Carried by a gentle Creole trance, Ritual Riots unfolds a form of slow, patient, and assured resistance. Here, nothing is frontal or brutal: power arises from repetition, listening, and long duration. The rhythms move steadily forward, the voices envelop, and the music acts as an underground force. This gentleness is a strategy — that of a rooted and determined resistance sustained over time, affirming that slowness itself can be a political and spiritual act.

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Produced by Hugo Cechosz at Studio Kapules in Montreuil, Ritual Riots finds a sonic setting worthy of its collective ambition. The production highlights the organic dimension of the percussion, the choral strength of the voices, and the ritual intensity of the ensemble, leaving full space for trance and the group’s vibration.

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​Blending Maloya, Haitian Vodou, Rock, and Jazz, Ritual Riots stands as a celebration of togetherness and a musical manifesto in which every note acts as an invocation.

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