wed 04/12/2024

CD: Daphné – Bleu Venise | reviews, news & interviews

CD: Daphné – Bleu Venise

CD: Daphné – Bleu Venise

Classy modern chanson that's for more than France alone

Chanson meets Ravel: Daphné’s 'Bleu Venise'

Bleu Venise might be recorded in LA with figures familiar from Joni Mitchell, Madeleine Peyroux and Melody Gardot albums, but this French music takes from the Anglophone world without sacrificing its identity. Daphné’s Bleu Venise is modern, literate, chanson-based pop.

Daphné’s break came in 2003 after she met Benjamin Biolay, France’s all-purpose and ubiquitous musical mover and shaker. He also kick-started the career of Keren Ann. But Biolay casts no shadows; his collaborators and protégés move on and flourish without him. Unlike Keren Ann and despite previous collaborations with The Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon, Daphné’s focus is on the French audience. As far as the studio is concerned though, her net is cast wide - Bleu Venise was recorded with producer Larry Klein, who has also worked with Mitchell, Peyroux and Gardot. The string arrangements are by Vince Mendoza, another Joni stalwart.

Following 2005’s L'Emeraude and 2007’s Carmin, Bleu Venise has another colour-coded title: green, crimson and now blue. Echoing L'Emeraude, where two songs were sung in Italian, Venice has inspired the album’s mood. Thematic consistencies aside, Daphné’s first American adventure hasn’t turned her into Joni Mitchell, even though two tracks are sung in English. She writes with a melodic arc that’s recognisably Gallic. Mendoza’s sensitive orchestration is restrained, never swamping Daphné’s precise, intimate voice. A highlight is the gently spaghetti-westernish “L’homme à la peau musicale”, where whimsy and observation meet. Reflections like “Portrait d’un vertige” merge chanson with a vision that seems informed by Ravel. Indeed, the album’s orchestral overture evokes Daphnis and Chloé. “Mélodie à personne” could have graced the soundtrack of Un Homme et une Femme. Yet still, Bleu Venise is modern pop. Daphné might be aiming at the Francophone world, but it’d be just fine if this delightful album was heard beyond France.

Visit Kieron Tyler’s blog

Watch the video for 'L’homme à la peau musicale', the first single from Daphné’s Bleu Venise

Add comment

The future of Arts Journalism

 

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

newsletter

Get a weekly digest of our critical highlights in your inbox each Thursday!

Simply enter your email address in the box below

View previous newsletters