Les Infinis (Soul Jazz Poetry)

Les Infinis (Soul Jazz Poetry) is the third album by Saint-Michel, released on May 16, 2025, under the jazz label Tonton Max, distributed by Believe and TuneCore.^[1] It compiles unreleased tracks in mixtape format and offers a poetic and musical fusion of jazz, soul, gospel, and hip-hop.

Les Infinis is a mixtape released on May 16, 2025, by the label Tonton Max. Composed of eight unreleased tracks, the album extends the musical exploration started with Femme Bantoue (2024), fusing jazz, soul, gospel, and hip-hop. Drawing from African-American music traditions, Saint-Michel builds an organic and minimalist soundscape influenced by artists like The Last Poets, Marvin Gaye, and Gil Scott-Heron.^[2]

Refined during slam tournaments in France, Saint-Michel’s poetic writing reflects a tradition where the sacred and the profane intersect, blending the emotional power of gospel, the sensuality of soul, and the protest tones of jazz.^[3]

To fly and live in the moment
To free oneself from space-time
To be as light as the wind
To be alive

We’ll go to the end...
We’ll go to the end...

Of the infinites...

— Saint-Michel, Les Infinis.^[4]

The daily newspaper Ouest-France noted that "poetry is at the heart of this project," highlighting the central role of writing in the artist’s work. Saint-Michel himself stated, "What drives me is writing," asserting an artistic approach focused on language and emotion. He added, "I am returning to my musical roots by paying tribute to my African-American influences," reflecting an aesthetic rooted in spoken word, Afro-jazz, and soul, enriched by a consciously diasporic memory.^[5]

In L’Horizon Africain, journalist Roland Kouloungou describes Soul Jazz Poetry as a deeply inhabited work, both musical and spiritual, that continues the poetic journey of Saint-Michel. He characterizes the album as “an incantatory journey” where jazz, soul, gospel, and hip-hop become languages of struggle, emotion, and transcendence. Staying true to his signature style, Saint-Michel delivers, in Kouloungou’s words, “a sensitive manifesto, an unruly prayer, a call to never stop dreaming, standing,” affirming his singular position in the contemporary musical landscape as “a voice, a conscience, a poet.”^[6]

She found herself full of flaws
I found her full of charm
She played with words
I wrote about her soul

— Saint-Michel, Soul Poetry.^[7]

Credits adapted from the liner notes:^[3]

• Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Susanoô at Scorpio Music
• Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Yvano at Al Music Records
• Artwork by Jocelyn Nkembe Nyemb and Ruben Binda

• "Saint-Michel: Les Infinis (Soul Jazz Poetry) (album)". YouTube. Retrieved 2025-01-18.