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Album review
Benjamin Biolay
La Superbe
Paris
20/11/2009 -
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Of all the masters of French pop (Christophe perhaps excepted), only a handful of artists have managed to run such a gamut of musical styles with such obvious panache. Biolay opens Volume I of La Superbe with sweeping classical strings then launches into a burst of '80s Brit rock on Prenons le large before slowing things down with a hypnotic interlude of dub reggae on Padam. Rare are the artists who can straddle such a daunting musical divide. And yet Biolay appears to pull off such feats with the greatest of ease, displaying extraordinary creativity in his arrangements - listen out for the subtlest of electro loops woven into the weft of classic pop songs such as L’espoir fait vivre!
Biolay's lyrics may not be as adventurous as they have been in the past, but they are nonetheless incisive here, infusing La Superbe with his signature dark take on love. This time round, it seems there is also room for moments of euphoria (Prenons le large) and Proustian nostalgia (Lyon Presqu’île.) In terms of sheer songwriting originality special mention should also be made of Brandt Rhapsody - a song already well on the way to becoming a cult French classic!
While Biolay's affected vocal style (his distinctive manner of half-murmuring, half-singing his songs) will not endear him to his detractors - and nor will certain facile tracks such as La Toxicomanie - there is no denying that Monsieur Biolay might just have carved out his place in French music history with his own Melody Nelson!
La Superbe
Benjamin Biolay La Superbe (Naïve) 2009
Jérôme Pichon
Translation : Julie Street
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