A mere sixteen months after the release of her debut Révélation, Toulouse based psych-pop revivalist Laure Briard has delivered her second album, the superbly diverse Sur la piste de danse (On The Dance Floor). We love it so much that it’s this week’s Indie30 Album of the Week. Whereas Révélation was a more straightforward affair, this record is more complex as Briard ingests influences that have surrounded classic French pop in an encyclopaedic like manner reflecting her ambition to incorporate a range of styles, from ye ye, psych, old school rock and swing and introspective pastoral elements dripping with lush instrumentation. The production quality is also greatly enhanced here with Midnight Special Records Victor Peynichou enlisting Marios Duflou and Edouard Pons on the boards. That’s not to say that it doesn’t retain that well worn sound and that suits an album built on retrospectively modern ideas.
The opening title track, is indicative of that diversity right off the bat with its alternating relaxed and dramatic disposition as is the celestial synth driven ‘Dalida’. Both tracks were collaborations with fellow Toulouse artist Francois Remigi (Abberline). She also enlisted Camille and Thomas Bénâtre Pradier as well as Eddy Crampes and Nicolas Mazel (Marie Mathematics) on the record. Indeed, the album’s cast extends to 12. ‘Le roi du rock’n’roll’ positively saunters away with its retro rock stylings while its four to the floor on the relentless ‘Que reste-t-il’. Quieter moments abound but they are by no means gap fillers. The brief yet heartfelt ‘Toi et moi’, the sparsely strummed, ‘Droit dans les yeux’ the prosaic and dreamlike ‘Accoudée au bar’ and the pastoral yet otherworldly ‘Je m’éloigne’ all play an essential role across the album and stand tall in their own right. Penultimate track, ballad ‘Il a Fallu’ serves as a moment of longing introspection on a rather personal work.
‘Chat’ and ‘Je vole’ take in Briard’s penchant for bossa nova stylings in the Françoise Hardy vein and even veer at times into the territory of anti-pop afficionado Phillipe Katerine without the tongue in cheek. The stunning closing track, the autobiographical ‘Laure’, also borrows from bossa nova but features a dizzying array of instrumentation as it floats away into reverie. Briard has indicated that she’d like to like to record an album in Istanbul with Turkish musicians and there are flickers of Turkish psychedelia here. We very much look forward to the results of that. For now, we have one of the more pleasing and appealing independent pop records of the year.
James Stocker – July 13, 2016.
Check out the Michelle Blades directed video for the title track below as well as streams of the aforementioned ‘Dalida’ and ‘Laure’. Sur la piste de danse is out on all formats including limited edition vinyl on Parisian label Midnight Special Records. Get it HERE.
Sur la piste de danse
Laure Briard (FRA)
From the album, ‘Sur la piste de danse’, Midnight Special Records.
Laure Briard Facebook
Audio Stream
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Official Video
Dalida
Laure Briard (AUS)
From the album, ‘Sur la piste de danse’, Midnight Special Records.
Audio Stream
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Laure
Laure Briard (AUS)
From the album, ‘Sur la piste de danse’, Midnight Special Records.
Audio Stream
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