Françoiz Breut – Vingt à Trente Mille Jours (2000, France)
[This guest post was written by @arratoon about number 912 on The List. The album was also submitted by @arratoon.]
The second album from French singer and illustrator was a sonic leap forward from her beguiling eponymous debut.
Written in the main by her then boyfriend, Dominique A, and his band, the songs bear the signature of the prolific songwriter and performer but are blessed by Françoiz’s elegant voice.
If, like me, you’re a sucker for sweeping strings then the addition of Budapest Symphony Orchestra will thrill you. The orchestrations are subtle but shimmering, and are used to their best effects on what has become her best-known song. “Si Tu Disais” starts with her barely audibly whispering the title, before hitting its stride. When the orchestra kicks in you’ll soar along with it. The track has been covered by Benjamin Biolay, and she’s performed it with fellow travellers Calexico, but this is the original and best version.
“L’Origine du Monde”, written by Katerine (most recently seen annoying Christians by appearing naked and painted blue as a Greek God in the Paris Olympics opening ceremony) kicks, buzzing guitars flying around like wasps.
The album features a languid version of Philippe Sarde’s “La Chanson d’Hélène”, originally from the soundtrack of Claude Sautet’s film Les Choses de La Vie, sung by Romy Schneider and Michel Piccoli. Here, Joey Burns from Calexico anglicises Piccoli’s lyrics. It’s a woozy delight. Françoiz also covers jazz standard “Sans Souci”. There’s more late-night languidity in Dominique A’s “La Nuit Repose”, shimmering guitars caressed by dark violins, before sailing away.
One of my favourites on this record is “Il n’y a pas d’Hommes dans les Coulisses”. Spare at first, her voice and a bass are joined by yearning strings and brushed drums, vibraphone and guitar adding mistral uplifts.
The record shows how much of an engaging performer she is, and how much of a great interpreter of people’s songs, seen recently on 2023’s Cover Songs in Inferno album she made with Don Nino. While Vingt… is beautifully moody and atmospheric, her most recent couple of albums, 2021’s Flux Flou de la Foule, and this year’s Vif!, are resplendent in their upbeat joyfulness, and both are uninhibited delights.
– Adrian Arratoon (@arratoon)
#1001OtherAlbums #2000s #BudapestSymphonyOrchestra #chanson #DominiqueA #FrançoizBreut #France #popRock #YannTiersen