Sanseverino
Le Tango Des Gens

THE REVIEW

Swing with just a guitar, gypsy melodies that speak of politics, movies, the sea. Stéphane Sanseverino is all this, rigorously acoustic, accompanying his wonderfully played guitar with bass and violin, creating an engaging and above all captivating sound.

After being the singer of Les Voleurs de Poules (a rather dangerous profession these days), at the age of 39, he decided to release his first solo album, which immediately became a success, at least in France. References abound, I've read everything, he's practically been compared to the music of the entire twentieth century; I would more seriously limit the similarities to a strange mix of Django Reinhardt and Jacques Brel.

The album with the most similar sounds is "Gipsy Project" by Birelli Lagrène, which however lacks vocals. I challenge anyone to listen to this CD without constantly tapping their foot to keep time. But what ultimately emerges is a great timeless melancholy, which is nonetheless tasted with joy. Like the grotesque characters from our 60s comedies, which he seems to partly draw inspiration from in his compositions. The words do not hold any less importance, and despite my imperfect knowledge of French, they pleasantly come back to mind, such as: "Anastasie l'ennui m'anesthésie" in "Le tango de l'ennui" or introducing himself as "l'ogre qui mange les enfants" while children's laughter is heard in the background, or letting us know that "Les films de guerre c'est c'que j'préfère".

The album is from 2000, but I assure you, if it weren't for the still relevant lyrics, we could date it to any time between 1950 and today. After this CD, Sanseverino (who, by the way, is undoubtedly of Italian origin) released "Les sénégalaises", decidedly less beautiful than the first, which remains for me a masterpiece of the genre.