SHREM'S DOUBLE TROUBLE: "ENCORE" - Vendredi sur Mer /// "COMME SI (HONEY DIJON REMIX)" - Christine & The Queens

Double trouble en français from me today.

First up, Vendredi sur Mer! Whenever I finish listening to her divine debut album "Premier Émois" I am automatically gasping for more of these luscious slices of electro poetry. I have been fascinated by this unique Swiss synth-pop artist ever since I heard the irresistible "La femme à la peau bleue" 3 years ago. The impossibly catchy "Encore" is a fitting culmination of this record and one of the most adorable songs of 2019 so far. What an absolute darling of a tune.



Secondly, the high and mighty - la Reine de la Pop Christine & The Queens has recently charmed us with a fresh assortment of remixes completed for the 5th single taken off "Chris" - "Comme si". Honey Dijon's Saturday-night-ready 90's house flavoured rendition of the track is an instant favourite among the lot. Put on your dancing shoes, baby!

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CHOON OF THE DAY: "ÉCOUTE CHÉRIE" - Vendredi sur Mer

Every now and then, there comes an artist whose compatibility with my music taste seems almost suspicious. It was that aural fondness I immediately felt stumbling upon the Swiss artist Vendredi sur Mer for the very first time back in 2016 with her captivating electro POP recitation "La Femme à la Peau Bleue". What followed was Charline Mignot's debut EP "Marée Basse" which scored #2 among Top 20 Best EPs of 2017. Vendredi sur Mer beguiles with her half-whispered, half-sung sonic escapades into synth-pop and charmingly old-fashioned French Chanson. The melodies, the lavish arrangements, the artwork and the videos are a luxurious mixture of kitsch, glamour, erotica and camp. All en français!!! If this wasn't enough this Geneva-born chanteuse I am clearly quite obsessed with at the moment, has just returned with her most impressive work to date - the sumptuous "Écoute Chérie" a late but very viable contender for both 2018 Video and Song of the Year. I'm in love...



And here are Vendredi sur Mer's previous singles:

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CHOON OF THE DAY: "IL FAIT CHAUD" - Corine

Corine's debut EP "Fille De Ta Région" was a thing of disco wonder. The all-killer-no-filler selection was then promptly topped-up by a rather immense selection of remixes, one of which, Polo & Pan's instantly iconic rendition of "Pluie Fine" became one of the greatest tracks of 2017 while scoring the Gold Medal for The Remix of the Year in my annual countdown of choons. Now the coquettish chanteuse is announcing the release of the 2nd instalment in her "Fille De Ta Région" saga which drops 13th April via Kwaidan Records. The upcoming EP is promoted by another tongue-in-cheek summer gem "Il Fait Chaud". Pure fun!

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SHREM'S DOUBLE TROUBLE: "L'INDIEN" /// "LA NUIT" - Juliette Armanet

Juliette Armanet has been carrying the duties of a French Pop ambassador across Europe in a classy, elegant, quintessentially French way ever since I have fallen in love with "L'Amour en Solitaire" which I found on Colette's "French Kiss" compilation back in 2014... Armanet's debut album, the exquisite "Petite Amie" has just been re-released in a generous deluxe format with 4 bonus tracks. The release is accompanied by a delectably disco-kitsch video for "L'Indien" directed by Pablo Padovani. One of the 4 new bonus tracks is the marvellous retro-chic ballad "La Nuit" which you can also enjoy below.

I am completely re-falling in love with this sublime record as I type this. Magnifique!

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CHOON OF THE DAY: "RENDEZ-VOUS" - Dita Von Teese

 Photo by Fabien Breuil for Grazia, 2012

In the most unexpected plot twist Burlesque diva Dita Von Teese teams up with French Pop bard Sébastien Tellier for a vintage flavoured slice of synth pop. Taken from Dita's debut album, written and composed by Monsieur Tellier himself and available in early 2018 via Record Makers. Isn't it so typical we get showered by interesting releases towards the end of the year, just on time to mess up with any muso year-end rankings. Formidable!

Here's what we read in the official press released about this adorable collaboration:

Dita Von Teese: “I’m not a professional singer. In fact, I’m quite uneasy about recording my voice. But I do enjoy the thrill of doing things that are outside of my comfort zone. When I performed for the first time at the Crazy Horse in Paris, I invited Sébastien because I was such a fan, not daring to imagine that someday he would compose an entire album for me.“ 

Sébastien Tellier: “When I saw Dita dance to a piece of music I had written for her, I had a feeling that her physical presence and her personality were a perfect fit with my music and I started to compose only for her. When you think that you've finally pierced Dita’s mystery, she turns out to be more than ever, a creature of dreams, totally out of reach.“

P.S. And so the French theme continues...

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SHREM'S DOUBLE TROUBLE: "Apprivoisé" - Calypso Valois /// "Ring-A-Ring O' Roses" - Charlotte Gainsbourg

Calypso Valois, whom you may recognise from synth-pop duo Cinema whose tracks "UV" and "Fille Sans Soucis" were among our favourites in 2013, returns with a solo record "Cannibale". It's no surprise "Apprivoisé" was selected to promote this elegant record as the funky string-laden number is an immediate stand-out moment upon first listen to the album. Less synth more pop, all in that inimitable cool aura of French Pop, the song fits somewhere comfortably between Sébastien Tellier and Exotica. My latest song obsession.

Charlotte Gainsbourg chose the sublime "Ring-A-Ring O' Roses" as the 3rd single taken from her fifth studio album "Rest". It's another flawless song written and produced by the mighty SebastiAn with the music video directed by the French actress/singer herself. Such indisputable talents on both acting and musical fronts truly are a rarity. "Rest" remains the most unexpected contender for the 2017 Album of the Year.

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SHREM'S DOUBLE TROUBLE: "COCKTAIL" - Corine /// "LARME À GAUCHE" - Vendredi sur Mer

Both Corine and Vendredi sur Mer have been on our radar since last year when both chanteuses scored highly in our #BestOf2016 countdown with "Pourquoi Purquoi" and "La femme à la peau bleue" accordingly.

"Cocktail" is Corine's another attempt to revive the wondrous French disco traditions with a sensual, slow disco moment, reminiscent of Cerrone, Bernard Fevre and Amanda Lear. This half-whispered, saxophone-laden, seductive late night groove is Corine's first new material since her rapturous debut EP "Fille De Ta Région" and her unexpected space disco cover of Serge Gainsbourg "My Lady Héroïne ". Have a sip of this sweet and salty Disco Pop below.

Photo by Lucie Gibierge

Vendredi sur Mer is a Swiss electro Pop artist who caught our attention with a stream of delectably dreamy, half-recited/half-sung singles. Joining forces with Lewis OfMan once again for her brand new song "Larme à Gauche", Charline Mignot is announcing the release of "Marée Basse" - a 6-tracker scheduled for release via Profil de Face on 24th November. With the previously praised "Les filles désir" (#3 in our June Crème de la Crème) it is shaping already to be a double bill for Vendredi sur Mer at the end of 2017 when compiling our annual Best Of countdown.

You can preview the whole EP HERE!

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CHOON OF THE DAY: "Cœur croisé" - Polo & Pan

French duo Polo & Pan, responsible for this year's most essential remix for Corine's "Pluie Fine", are announcing the release of their debut album "Caravelle" with the irresistible "Cœur croisé". The single is an adorable, kitsch-infused slice of French Pop following the melodic patterns and the vibrant eclecticism of Polo & Pan's previous hit "Canopée". It's just the kind of sweet sound I crave when the summer season is just around the corner. "Caravelle" drops 19th May via Ekler'O'Shock and Hamburger Records.

The fittingly fabulous video for "Cœur croisé" was directed by Pablo Maestres.

Photo by Barrère et Simon.

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SHREM'S DOUBLE TROUBLE: "De la Vitesse à l'Ivresse" /// "Il n'y a pas d'Amour Heureux" - POOM

There are numerous genres, styles and musical niches I am particularly fond of. I do have a special love for classic Egyptian music for example, Italo disco, balkan beats, post punk, late 80's house, 90's R&B, rare grooves, mambo, cumbia, nu disco, freestyle, Scandinavian synth-pop, electronica, oldskool Hip Hop, Central Asian pop... The list is very long and eclectic. I also adore Chanson Française in its full and rich tradition but when contemporary musicians borrow from the classic French Pop it tickles my fancy enormously. I have fallen in love with Cinema and Exotica in the past few years and have recently properly discovered another Parisian duo POOM. The sensual "De la Vitesse à l'Ivresse" is a string laden, rich composition paying a lush vintage hommage to the greatest French songs of the decadent 60's and 70's. Camille Ferrera et Siegfried de Turckheim fit in splendidly somewhere between the classic Françoise Hardy and Air's dreamy first two albums. The upbeat "Il n'y a pas d'Amour Heureux" is a glorious electro pop rendition of Louis Aragon's poem which became Georges Brassens' hit all the way back in 1953. Formidable!

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