Song of the Day
French chantuese Françoiz Breut
Nébuleux Bonhomme - Françoiz Breut
Quote:
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Francoiz Breut has the mysterious aura of the beautiful Gallic muse in the tradition of Jeanne Moreau or Juliette Binoche. Her elusive persona is as much what she is not; as what she is...Or as Nico so aptly put it,” I am your mirror"; a paradoxical reflection of both desire and detachment. Her vocals are at once; deeply wounded, intimately playful and passionate.
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I'm not one to quote myself but I wrote that in 2002 upon the release of Mademoiselle Breut's first American released album
Vingt a Trente Mille Jours. I stand by those words eight years later. Francoiz Breut's late December 2008 album release
À laveuglette would be at top of every critic's notable 2009 album releases, if there was any justice in this world.
I've seen Francoiz in concert once and she has an alluring stage manner that induces something on the order of a hypnotic opium spell on her audience. Mlle. Bruet accomplishes this without wearing exotic bondage gear, engaging in ritualized reenactments of sex acts or otherwise humiliating herself to becoming the puerile fantasy object of every male misogynist to gain the attention the audience.
She remains an object of mystery and intrigue to both critics and fans and she stubbornly refuses to sing in anything other than her native French despite her fluent command of English. Silly girl Francoiz, French may be the language of love, but English is the language of commerce in pop music. Those goofy French... they won't even join Kabala, hire William Orbit as a producer or sing in English to get rich and famous.
Many critics have compared of Francoiz Breut to the first wave of female French pop singers of the Sixties like Brigitte Bardot, Jane Birkin and Francoise Hardy. Mlle has a more voluptuous and expressive voice than any of that trio who were all known for their breathlessly whispered vocals. Francois Hardy was and still is a first rate songwriter but Mlle Breut is her equal as lyricist and exceeds Mlle Hardy's talents as writer, arranger and producer of music.
My rough translation of the title "nébuleux bonhomme" can either mean "nebulous fellow" or "the nebulous nature of relationships" based on my five years of high school French and one year of actually living in Paris failing to communicate to Parisians with my own high school French limitations.