Took us a while to dig the new Emilie Simon album (or the new Jeanne Cherhal, for that matter), but guestposter David really fell for ‘Mue’:

Well, I won’t do that again. I’ve been waiting for over a month for a delivery “shipped all together”, waiting for Chloe Lacasse’s new CD to be released. Chloe’s new CD has some good songs (more from Steve soon, I understand), but in the meantime I missed out on Emilie Simon’s new album, “Mue”. No longer. My usual criteria for writing about a CD is if I listen to it through to the end without feeling like switching to something else. Emilie’s new one I listened through, and then through again.

I well remember the disappointment years ago when Emilie drifted away from French song. Her CD “Franky Knight” had a share of French songs, but to me it lacked the edge Emilie had before. “Mue”, however, rings sharp and clear, from first to last note. Emilie’s voice on her various CD’s has always been one of “sit up and take notice”, with an edge making even soft songs somehow more interesting, capturing and holding attention. In this one, Emilie brings back memories of “Vegetal”, and with the title “Mue” (molting) suggesting she’s changing her feathers, perhaps she’s back for a while singing chanson francaise.

The album starts out very strong with “Paris j’ai pris perpète”, a favorite. I particularly like “Encre”, a bit reminiscent in tone of Daphné at her best (think “Bleu Venise”, not her more recent CD of softer tone lullabies, “Fauve”, pleasant but I can’t stay awake), enough so that I readily forgave the next song, one of two in English. Emilie’s songwriting is varied – each song stands on its own, without ready comparison one to another. Here’s a video of another favorite, “Quand vient le jour”:

I wish “Wicked Games”, the final song on the CD and a cover, was also in French. But if instead you choose to think of the CD as ending with “Les amoureux de minuit”, it’s fitting enough.

Beautiful and interesting. Thanks, Emilie.