Ken from Valley Mills, Texas wrote a very flattering piece:
If someone had said to me a couple of years ago that there would come a point when several of my favorite artists would be obscure French pop singers, I would have laughed and turned up The Clash or Johnny Cash. I mean maybe the odd icelandic singer-songwriter sure, but come on - I don't even speak French. So I guess I would have been wrong. I really started thinking about this following a conversation with a friend about new music and I realized that many of my new favorite records are by french pop singers - imagine my surprise.
I don't mean to imply or suggest that I've abandoned any of the oldschool-jangle-modstyle-lofi-dreampop-hardcountry-skaterock-antifolk-postpunk-shoegazing-twee bands that make up the musical quilt that keeps me warm - I've just added some fancy stitching here and there. I guess the reason that I've been drawn to pop songs performed in French (and Portuguese, Swedish, German, Norwegian, etc.) has more to do with how I listen to music now, compared to several years ago. A change in my responsibilities at work resulted in the need for me to spend most of my time in my office, on the computer.
I began to use music to drown out the ambient noise of my co-workers and to help me focus on the reports I have to generate. The problem with this was that too often I would get distracted by the stories in the songs, or by things they would remind me of and I would be skylarking instead of working - deadlines would suddenly be looming from out of nowhere. The funny thing is, I don't really seem to have this problem too much anymore - Emilie Simon, Keren Ann, Sokogirl, Ivy, Melanie Pain, and Carla Bruni all make brilliant, beautiful music that is only occasionally performed in a language I can understand. I enjoy it completely on an aesthetic and emotional level, I'm just not able to sing along most of the time. My co-workers most likely think that's really a good thing.
The silky voice of French-Israeli chanteuse Keren Ann works as a tonic for those times when the stresses of life are working hard to bring you down. Her dreamy songs, sometimes barely rising above a whispered vocal and a delicate melody, will compel you to stop and listen and join her for a few moments – trust me, you’ll be glad you did.
Don’t be fooled by her softness – while the gentleness of the delivery might hint at naiveté, a closer listen will reveal a young lady who has learned some hard lessons. Delightfully, refreshingly – while these lessons have made her strong, her outlook remains innocent and sweet and hopeful. Musically, all of her albums suggest the subtle influences of Jane Birkin and Francoise Hardy but her new self-titled release sees her stretching herself musically to reflect influences that hint at Tom Waits and Emiliana Torrini. The new offering continues to explore the terrain she revealed on her first four solo records, and all of her work is marked by a singular vision - she infuses her strongly emotional aural postcards with subtle, languid arrangements that can send shivers down your spine. Keren Ann takes her gift for channeling mood into song and just quietly devastates the listener.
Emilie Simon - Chanson de Toile (live)
Keren Ann - Manha de Carnaval
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