Melancolique : Mais C'est Pas "Rose Kennedy"
Cabir Davis | 12/03/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Benjamin Biolay's impressive work as an independent singer-songwriter continues on his supposed magnum opus "La Superbe", released on October 19, 2009. This isn't quite a classic as either "Negatif" or "Rose Kennedy", in my opinion, but its still quite an achievement, especially since his last two albums "Trash Yeye" and "A La O'rigine" weren't quite up to par.
I maintain that Biolay's best work came on "Negatif", a double CD from a few years ago that contains his best work thus far. What he excelled at - spoken word singing, lounge atmospheres, and interesting song samples (including Marilyn Monroe, if some of you will remember) has been changed around a little bit here in favor of more variety - in the sense that there are elements of jazz, funk, reggae, electronica, and ballroom present in spades on this recording. This isn't essentially a bad thing, but I did find the production to be a couple notches less than on "Rose Kennedy", which is unacceptable coming so long into his career.
Guest stars, including the irrepressible Jeanne Cherhal (on loan from Tot ou Tard), and even Valerie Donzelli, make this an affair to remember. Biolay also sounds much like Vincent Delerm on this recording, in the aspect of nostalgia and rememberance (which remains Delerm's forte as witnessed on his latest "Quinze Chansons").
But its all a bit much to take in. On "Negatif" (another sprawling double disc that remains one of the best French albums in existence, literally), the album flowed effortlessly with every song working as a seamless transition into the other. However, on "La Superbe", the fact that every song sounds so markedly different in terms of genre and substance, makes for a very disjointed listening experience, where everything seems far less coherent (yet compelling nonetheless). When Biolay slows things down for a throwback to what he used to do best, such as on "Tu es mon amour", we realize just what he is capable of. But the standout remains the swirling, heady "15 Aout", which has a great string section that should be heard to be believed.
Benjamin Biolay isn't quite big yet even in his native France, and this is because he is often considered a poor mans' Serge Gainsbourg. Granted, his deep vocal delivery, smoke-tinged spoken word attempts at singing, and morose lyricism are all very Gainsbourg, but at least Biolay is more musically experimental than Serge ever was - at least his producers offer him more variety to sample and use in his recordings. Which is a good thing. But "La Superbe" will not appeal to anyone who does not know anything beyond the typical French radio staples, as it belongs to an underground, undefinable genre that will forever remain at least mostly obscure.
Four Stars.
Disque 1:
La superbe (choeurs : Gesa Hansen)
15 août (lettre lue par Valérie Donzelli)
Padam
Miss Catastrophe
Ton héritage
Si tu suis mon regard
Night Shop
Tu es mon amour
Sans viser personne (Benjamin Biolay / Benjamin Biolay - Pierre Jaconelli)
La toxicomanie
Brandt Rhapsodie (Benjamin Biolay - Jeanne Cherhal / Benjamin Biolay en duo avec Jeanne Cherhal)
Disque 2:
L'espoir fait vivre
Prenons le large
Tout ça me tourmente (voix : Jeanne Cherhal)
Assez parlé de moi
Buenos Aires (voix : Frederico Schindler)
Raté
Lyon presqu'île (voix : Alka)
Mélancolique
Reviens mon amour
Jaloux de tout
15 septembre
Les grands ensembles (titre bonus présent dans l'édition limitée)"
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1