Yelle
Complètement Fou

Ah, la France, la France... those who are fed up with my French reviews will have to live with it; here comes another one, obviously written to give myself a bit of flair. Forgive me but I couldn't resist the temptation, now let's get serious: Yelle, a duo formed by Julie Budet (vocals, lyrics) and Jean-Francois Perrier (synths, production, a bit of everything else), active since 2007. A typical (beautiful) pop reality of the new millennium, a good dose of "citationism", but also talent, lightheartedness but also the ability to do things well, a brilliant attitude, somewhat insolent and cheeky; maybe not of absolute global significance, but it's one of those discoveries that truly make me happy. The classic "second lines" much more deserving than the so-called firsts, to put it briefly.

Their proposed genre falls under the rather generic label of electropop, but this third album, "Complètement Fou" from 2014, demonstrates if not exactly eclecticism, certainly a commendably broad creative and stylistic horizon; synths, nu-disco but also vintage influences, hip-hop, electroclash, and obviously a certain touch of elegant French flair. An engaging and inspiring mix, with great freshness and excellent impact. Julie Budet is a perfect frontwoman for this genre: as I already pointed out for Little Boots, who roughly inhabits the same niche as Yelle, both in terms of proposal and quality, here, no extraordinary vocal abilities, range of X octaves, etc., are necessary, but a brilliant and decisive vocal approach is indispensable, the affected, languid tendencies of some "prominent" figures are the death of this kind of pop; in short, one must still sing, not panting at the microphone with a femme fatale attitude, and Julie does it decidedly well. "Complètement Fou" is a qualitatively homogeneous but not linear album; there are surprises, sometimes unexpected, making the listening experience even more engaging and intriguing, so many, many compliments from me to Yelle for producing such an album, beautiful in every aspect.

We have the danceable and lively tracks "Completèment Fou", "Les soupirs et les refrains", the Little Boots-esque "Moteur Action" and a highly successful mix like "Un jour viendra", with rap-like singing and melancholic atmospheres, then "Toho" and especially a very effective "Jeune fille garnement", more oriented towards a steady and decisive electroclash; The only small criticism, more of marketing than musical, that I feel the need to express, is the choice, given such abundance, of "Bouquet final" as the lead single, which in my opinion is by far the least successful track not only among the more dance-oriented ones but of the album in general, hampered by a repetitive and not very fluid rhythm. It’s worth specifying this distinction because this album also has a vintage soul, paying homage to classic French melodies revisited in a modern key, sometimes intersected with the former, as in the case of "Un jour viendra" and "Coca sans bulles," which carve out short but very suggestive spaces like "Nuit de baise I" and "Dire qu'on va tous mourir", delightful synth harmonies with bittersweet connotations and "Nuit de baise II", the only episode sung by Jean-Francois Perrier, with a sexier and sly mood; interludes, but truly tasteful and characterizing. And not only that, there is also "Florence en Italie", the masterpiece of the album: a splendid vintage electro-ballad, luminous and captivating, with a wonderful performance by Julie Bodet, almost reaching the levels of elegance and delicacy of Sarah Cracknell, the guiding star. The so-called wonky-pop might not be to your taste, but the classic and impeccable beauty of this piece is something else one can fall in love with a song like this.

Finally, there are a couple of small details; some might be puzzled by them, but for me, they are an additional point of contact with Yelle: "Ba$$in" and "Coca sans bulles" closely resemble "Rocking Chair" and "Tombè pour la France" respectively; it's hardly surprising given that both Cyndi Lauper and Etienne Daho are cited by Yelle as reference artists and inspirations, and these "tributes" to such caliber characters truly honor Julie and Jean-Francois; they are also a demonstration of style and personality. In short, as long as there are "young" talents like Yelle, dear old pop music will have a secure future, unfortunately not in the forefront (not even English Little Boots is, let alone them, at least internationally) but the real "connoisseurs", those who have passion and love for the genre, do not care whatsoever about the charts.