Bastien Lallemant, Vincent Liben

Not often do we feature male singers on this blog, but when it comes to Bastien Lallemant and Vincent Liben, sheer quality urges us to urge you to take note. Plus the fact that they duet with some lovely filles.

Bastien Lallemant takes his time when he records – La Maison Haute follows 2010’s Le Verger. Musically, he’s on par with Dominiqu Ané and Bertrand Belin – carefully crafted chansons with hints of Americana. Think of a stripped down, late-night Calexico. French reviews of La Maison Haute mention Gainsbourg’s masterpiece Melody Nelson – apparently, La Maison Haute is his take on L’Hotel Particulier. Hear the lush strings in Un million d’Années (below) to get a taste, but no mention of underaged redheads ran over by Rolls Royces, tho. Lallemant made this album with help from a string of likeminded artists: JP Nataf, Seb Martel, Katel, Maissiat, Albin de la Simone and Francoiz Breut. The latter sings a beautiful duet (Le Vieil Amour) that’s not on Soundcloud or YouTube alas, check Spotify and/or Deezer.
This lead track is also quite nice:

Belgian counterpart Vincent Liben has a thing for Serge G. as well. Animalé is his second solo-album (he was member of Mud Flow), the first album featured a great duet with Berry (clip). This time, girlfriend Lisza backs him up on the gorgeous (and very Gainsbourgian) L’ennui. Animalé has lush strings as well (Sous les draps, Lila) and has more ‘oomph’ than Lallemant’s offering – just a fact, not a value judgement. Both are great albums.
VL’s album is on Youtube, some tracks are on Soundcloud.