Six years ago, I started writing about girls, singing in French. Making me sigh. In the past years, I also wrote about guys, singing in French. Serge Gainsbourg especially. I posted songs in various languages. I got help from Maks, Sky and FransS. I interviewed several of my heroes and heroines. Among them: Charlotte Gainsbourg. I interviewed her twice (third time coming up!), the first time in a posh hotel in Paris. Halfway through the interview, she slid from the couch and sat at my feet for the rest of the time. I know I kept on with the interview, because the questions were recorded on my device but I have no recollection asking them. I brushed past her in an Amsterdam hotel, when she was a secret guest at an Air-concert. I did not recognise her at first, but I was immediatly mesmerized when I saw her.
This compilation (also made for EHPO and Perfect Alles, cover was made by Wilbert) is my ode to an actress who interprets songs like they’re scenarios. Who gets help from big guns like Jarvis Cocker, Conor O’Brien and Beck, but has the ability to make a song her own. All songs are especially written for her, about her experiences, about her fears and of course inspired by her heritage. When Charlotte sighs, or whispers (like in Beauty Mark, one of the most beautiful songs she ever recorded), I start glowing. It’s not sexual (well, maybe a little), it’s out of pure contentment.
Thanks for all your visits, comments, suggestions, songs, guestposts etcaetera. Here’s to another six years.
Download from HERE, listen on Spotify HERE
No, Benjamin Biolay did not write Isabelle Boulay’s Fin Octobre, début Novembre, but he sure sat on the producers chair (see here and here). He produced Boulay’s new album (out Nov 8), this is the first single. Now, when it comes to Isa, there’s always some reservation. Yes, she’s absolutely gorgeous. Yes, she has a fine voice. But her songs border on bland, mainstream territory. Be that as it may, I loved Chanson pour les mois d’hiver, I loved her duet with Julien Clerc, I can name more than a handful of other great songs by Isa. Fin Octobre, nothing wrong with that one either. Dutch biologist and writer Midas Dekkers wrote an ode to redheads, wonder if he knows Isabelle and what he thinks of her.
