Aidan Curran posted on December 20, 2008 18:00
Over the three years of this column-turned-blog, we've raved repeatedly about the wonderful Emily Loizeau, exhausted every superlative in singing her praises. We're about to do so again.
If you've just joined us: mademoiselle Loizeau's gorgeous debut record, 'A L'Autre Bout Du Monde', was our pick as best French album of 2006. By turns achingly melancholic and blissfully optimistic, the album blended pop, folk and cabaret in much the same way as Duke Special, with whom she has recorded and performed live.
Now, appropriately in this season of angels announcing births of messiahs and so forth, we hear that Emily Loizeau's second album, 'Pays Sauvage', will be released on 2 February. So, already one reason to look forward to 2009. The album has been recorded with a plethora of French folk-popsters, including David Herman Dune (formerly of the family group that still bears his name), Olivia Ruiz and Moriarty.
The first single, 'Sister', is available for download from online French music-pushers like iTunes, FNAC and Virgin. Unlike the piano-led pop of her first record, this track is an acoustic folk-pop shuffle, complete with whistling and a brass section. And Loizeau croons breezily over it all, forgoing the cabaret dramatics of her earlier songs for something more laidback. All in all, it's rather charming and a good sign for the forthcoming album.
Being Anglo-French, Loizeau is bilingual and has recorded version of 'Sister' in English and en français. You can hear both on her MySpace page.
And check out the poster (above right) for her Paris shows next spring (ah, springtime in Paris!) that features a bearded lady. Brilliant. We heart Emily Loizeau. (She's the one without the beard.)
Here's a brief snippet from the studio, man, of the English version of 'Sister':
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