Fally Ipupa – Sans illusion

On the 51-song album “XX: Délirium,” Congolese rumba icon Fally Ipupa rounds out disk one with “Sans Illusion,” the twelfth tune. This one is six minutes and sixteen seconds long and looks at love in a more down-to-earth, genuine way.

Fally Ipupa has had a lot of great romance, betrayal and eventual rejuvenation on disk one, and “Sans Illusion” is a suitable finish to that emotional narrative. “Without Illusion” is the title, preparing a song focused around approaching love with open eyes rather than fantasy. This song, which comes straight after “Résurrection,” feels like the wisdom that comes after hope, love without the rose-tinted glasses of earlier in the story.

The performance is fluid and expressive throughout, giving the arrangement room to unfold its concept. No rushing to a speedy resolution here. “Sans Illusion” succeeds because Fally Ipupa devotes totally to that clear-eyed, factual vision. There is nothing here that debases romanticism for sentiment’s sake. It feels like a fitting, mature resolution to disk one’s wide emotional trip.