Posted on September 4, 2009 - by Mark Zonda

Not so Hardy

Benjamin Biolay is such an impressive person. I mean, he married Chiara Mastroianni, he worked with Juliette Gréco and Françoise Hardy. Above all he made such impressive songs doing a wonderful job producing Keren Ann two albums. Just like Darth Vader, the only thing I couldn’t imagine was that he wasn’t the only hope for French music to master the force of Serge Gainsbourg. It was totally unexpected: the chosen one had a sister too, so I”m recently trying to catch up with Coralie Clément works…Beside being a sweet bird, Coralie Clément music is nothing impressive at all, still her album are full of taste and chill, being the perfect soundtrack for a quiet holiday in the sun, with each track being the ideal candidate for a possible closing to “Rebuild of Evangelion”.

I really find comparisons with Françoise Hardy and Jane Birkin really out of place. Tracks like “Le jazz et le gin”, from her debut “Salle Des Pas Perdus” – written while studying at University – reminds me more like a tuned version of Kahimi Karie or early Charlotte Gainsbourg (and when I say “early” I mean when she was 13 y.o.).

Though being her idol, there’s no trace of Vanessa Paradis‘ exuberance and charisma, still Coralie can confide on a most unique grace and class, not so common on these noisy days. Being “Toystore” her last album, released on 2008, we really hope we’re not supposed to witness the end of a predictable saga, confiding on Coralie Clément not to hang us till 2011 to cheer for a new collection of glossy tunes. Innocent and unharmed.

Coralie Clément – “Ca valait la peine”

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