Julien Libeer, Marc Lavoine, Orlando Weeks…

• Julien Libeer
  J. S. Bach & Beyond : A Well-Tempered Conversation
  Selection of works by Johann Sebastian Bach and various composers by Julien Libeer (piano)

Rather than interpreting in continuity the preludes and fugues that make up the famous Well-tempered keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach, Julien Libeer had the idea of ​​presenting them in a range subject to two rules: keep only those written in major mode and extend them with a miniature – in the same key but in minor mode – selected from the production of another composer. You can put Bach in all the sauces, it works. The route proposed by the young Belgian – on the sumptuous piano of postman Chris Maene, his compatriot – is very attractive. Defended with a mastery of styles that spans three centuries, the confrontations always seem relevant. Ludwig van Beethoven seems to enlarge under the microscope the material stirred up by his elder. Conversely, Frédéric Chopin gives the impression of airing it, just like Dimitri Shostakovich. The most unexpected – but oh so justified – rapprochement concerns György Ligeti through the Reserved music n ° 1 to which Julien Libeer gives an irresistible brilliance. Pierre Gervasoni

• Marc Lavoine
  Adult never

On the cover of his fourteenth studio album, a photograph of Marc Lavoine in his youth, medium-length hair, around 15-16 years old, perhaps to better support the title Adult never. Which seduces overall, again by its deep voice timbre, the readability of its phrasing, the curves of the placement on the melodies. There is a lot about love, sensuality, with touches of melancholy. Lavoine who signs the texts is always an elegant interpreter of these themes. Thereby The train, which opens the album, the story of a possible separation, white clouds, that of an appointment, Along you, iceberg love, co-written with his wife, the novelist Line Papin, Until love do us part, beautiful assembly with the voice of actress Virginie Ledoyen. Less convincing are the title track, due to the vocal monotony of Grand Corps Malade, in this duet, as well as second hand heart and Badminton who carry less. Sylvain Siclier

In another life, Orlando Weeks was the frontman of the London rock band The Maccabees (2004-2017). His first solo album, A Quickening, released in the summer of 2020, revealed a much more pop orientation, dominated by dreamlike electronic pads. A convincing test but which still lacked a little warmth. Detail rectified on this superb second opus with pleasant atmospheres and a flourishing tone. The discovery of paternity – a theme that already obsessed him on A Quickening – is no longer a factor of anguish and can now be fully savored. Orlando Weeks’ particular sweet timbre blends beautifully with its fluffy synthetic progressions with new wave, trip hop, smooth jazz and more: the superb weightless pop melody of No End To Love, the graceful Silver which flirts with the baroque, exotic excursions Hey You Hop Up and Make You Happy. High Kicking even recalls the Peter Gabriel of So. Hop Up turns out to be a more sophisticated pop record than at first glance, constantly inventive. Frank Colombani

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