Dorval, Les Choses de la Vie
jqr | Brooklyn | 03/07/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This is a very smooth, not aggressive album, with several of the typical Benjamin Biolay production flourishes: masses of instruments, subdued vocals, and precise enunciation.
A lot of this record sounds very much like those over-orchestrated 1960's American pop records that Dionne Warwick or Burt Bacharach made, but with a breathier, French chanteuse instead. Unless your mother is rock critic Ann Powers, she would probably like this just as much as you do, and what's wrong with that? Missing are any of the sampling and referential touches of Biolay's own records, the dense soundscapes and dreamlike construction of Keren Ann's records, or the saccharine-and-proud-of-it confections on Coralie Clement's Salle des pas perdus.
For all English-speaking listeners, the principal appeal is Pascale Baehrel's voice. She's soft and breathy, but enunciates clearly, and has a fuller, richer voice than Biolay sister Coralie Clement. On the title track, she supplies a beautiful vocal performance, sounding completely relaxed, unhurried and unforced. She also writes most of her own songs, which are slightly more weighty and substantial than Coralie's.
If you like lounge-y music with beautiful vocals but without a trace of irony, knowing winks, or raucous behavior, you will appreciate this record."
