Hier, aujourd’hui, demain
With her second album Azul, Belgian chanteuse/ actress Helena Noguerra was rivaling Brazilian singer Bebel Gilberto in terms of the most easygoing bossa nova lounge style record of the last decade. Now, eleven years later, Noguerra’s back again with her fifth outing Année Zéro, realized with the help of a few prominent friends, among them actress Anna Mouglalis (the Gréco from Gainsbourg: Vie Héroique), Helena’s sister Lio and Syd Matters frontman Jonathan Morali. The true work of an artiste-auteur (Noguerra wrote and composed most of the songs herself), Année Zéro is an elegant and worthwhile, though at times a bit uneven pop exploration. It also features one of the most beautiful chansons of some years to come: Appelle moi, written in collaboration with her ex-husband Katerine, a heartbreaker of a song about yesterday, today, and forever.