RFI Musique - - Album review

Album review

Mister Mystère

Music for all the senses

Paris

08/09/2009 -

Matthieu Chédid's new album, Mister Mystère (Mr Mystery) could not have been more aptly named. The making of Chédid's fourth album has been surrounded in secrecy and Universal has protected its new pop protégé like the mythical golden goose. M's album has finally hit stores and fans will be delighted to discover a sensual, poetic and subtly eclectic CD/DVD offering maximum audio and visual stimulation.

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Six years after the chart success of his last album, Qui de nous deux (which sold over a million copies), M is back in the spotlight with a radical new image. The bright pink suit, kitsch glasses and crazy, spiked-up hair have all been abandoned in favour of a sober black-and-white outfit this time round. Meanwhile, M's new record label, Universal, has been playing the mystery cared to the full, keeping promotional interviews to a strict minimum and making only one meagre snippet from the album available on the star's Myspace page.

But the question on everyone's lips now is: can M's fourth album live up to expectations? In a nutshell, yes! Mister Mystère revolves around a series of well-crafted lyrics - the majority penned by zany French 'chanteuse' Brigitte Fontaine - and a series of superb melodies arranged by M's father, Louis Chédid.

Some fans may miss the sheer rock craziness and the flamboyant electric guitar riffs of past hits such as Je dis M. And it has to be said, Mathieu Chédid has certainly entered a calmer, more acoustic, more poetic phase. But there are still hints of Hendrix-style antics on erotically-charged tracks such as Tanagra. M also branches out in new directions, experimenting with Malian influences on Amssétou and reworking his father, Louis Chédid's Hold up in a frenetic disco version with wailing police sirens.

There are plenty of light, upbeat moments and jangly guitars on Mister Mystère, but a poignant undercurrent of nostalgia runs throughout the new album and is reinforced by the accompanying images. Every song on the album comes complete with its own video clip (shot by M and edited by his sister, Emilie). M set out to make a "percept" album rather than a concept album, aimed at stimulating all the senses. The highly stylized videos, all cleverly divided in two, reflect the core duality that has always been there in M's work, playing on contrasts between light and dark, black and white and the masculine and the feminine. Expect more striking black-and-white imagery live on stage when M hits the road on an extensive French tour this autumn.