Barbara Carlotti: Les Lys Brises (4AD)

 |   |  <1 min read

Barbara Carlotti: Mon Corps Alangui
Barbara Carlotti: Les Lys Brises (4AD)

Sounding somewhere between a wide awake Claudine Longet (who was so whispery you often wondered if she was singing or snoozing) and the cool, indifferent tone of Nico, this 32-year old Parisian really makes an impact, albeit at a very low level.

She grew up on Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan and classical piano, but made the move into chanson in the manner of literate types like Serge Gainsbourg.

At home she's had support from the likes of Louis Attack (a great rocking multi-culti French outfit) and the producer/arranger Bertrand Burgalat who has worked with Nick Cave. This is her sensual and downbeat debut album (her earlier EP Chansons picked up second prize in the Trophee de la Chanson Francaise last year).

There's an English-language duet here with Jean-Pierre Petit who sounds like a Parisian Ray Davies, and sometimes you feel she could be heading into alt.chanson.

Whatever it is, it's a real grower, even if Francaise isn't your lingua franca.

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   World Music from Elsewhere articles index

Ahmed Mukhtar: Babylonian Fingers (Arc Music)

Ahmed Mukhtar: Babylonian Fingers (Arc Music)

Interesting that the actual album title Babylonian Fingers takes considerable second place to the banner "Music from Iraq". In truth though, that geographical specificity might... > Read more

Various Artists: Womad, Australia and New Zealand 2016 (Cartell/Border)

Various Artists: Womad, Australia and New Zealand 2016 (Cartell/Border)

Just a quick heads-up on this 16-track compilation in advance of the Taranaki Womad which opens in a fortnight. This is one of those pleasurable homework assignments for the car if you are... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

Michael Bloomfield: Blues at the Fillmore 1968-69 (Raven/EMI)

Michael Bloomfield: Blues at the Fillmore 1968-69 (Raven/EMI)

For those who weren't there at the time, some small explanation may be necesary. In the late Sixties it seemed obligatory that every student dive or flat would have a copy of an album featuring... > Read more

Freda Payne: Band of Gold/Contact/Reaching Out (Edsel/Triton)

Freda Payne: Band of Gold/Contact/Reaching Out (Edsel/Triton)

Although it was slightly ambiguous about who had failed on the wedding night, it is Freda who says her new husband should come back and "love me like you tried before". And so we... > Read more