Francoiz Breut - striking the delicate balance between moody and melancholy.
Francoiz Breut – Chansons – 2009 – Past Daily Nights At The Round Table
Francoiz Breut – 8 songs from a special limited edition Tour CD – 2009
Patrons: Check out your exclusive page for something special: Become a Patron!
Francoiz Breut for a change of pace this weekend, the French singer/songwriter who has collaborated with a number of notable figures, not only in France but here in the States and in the UK.
In case you don’t know who she is – here is a portion of her website bio (worth taking a peek at):
Françoiz Breut is the original pioneer of the Nouvelle Scène Française. Her career began modestly, away from the limelight, as a background singer for her former partner Dominique A. When A eventually encouraged her to start her own career in 1997, Breut quickly became the main ambassador of the new French scene among foreign audiences. Since then her inimitable voice has inspired countless well known song writers to contribute songs to her first three albums. With her fourth album “À l’aveuglette”, Françoiz Breut is breaking new ground: the songs were conceived in cooperation with musicians of her long time live-band and this time she has written all the lyrics herself. The result “À l’aveuglette” is a much more homogenous album than its predecessors and – perhaps for this very reason – an even better one!
Breut’s debut album from 1997 had the signature of songwriter Dominique A all over it. “Vingt à Trente Mille Jours” from 2000 and “Une Saison Volée” from 2005 were basically song collages. The new album “À l’aveuglette” is by contrast much more obviously the artistic expression of Françoiz Breut herself.
Not surprisingly the musical preferences of Breut have left indelible marks on the album. Being a young fan of Anglo-American garage rock and punk living in the seaside town of Cherbourg in northern France, Breut used to go over to London for weekend breaks and record shopping. Because she tended to miss the last train home, Breut spent many a night at Victoria Station. Her sister introduced her to Nirvana and Mudhoney, later Françoiz discovered the 60s and bands like The Velvet Underground, The Seeds, The Electric Prunes and The Remains. Now, “À l’aveuglette” is no more a garage punk album than the Eiffel Tower is the next CBGB’s. “À l’aveuglette” is a modern chanson album. But the music that influenced Breut over the years has left its mark.
“Les jeunes pousses” might well be the most powerful song of Breut’s career, and she never got closer to pure rock music then on “Nébuleux bonhomme”. “Dunkerque” on the other hand is carried by a strange beat that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on a Smog-CD. But despite the rough and rocky edges, “À l’aveuglette” is still an album of amazing depths and soulfulness, dominated by the most beautiful voice of the Nouvelle Scène Française.
That should give you some background and hopefully an opportunity to go exploring – and take a look at her (unofficial) fan site. There’s a lot to discover there.
Enjoy.
