Avril Lavigne Lyrics » Avril Lavigne Music

Hi. I had originally planned to talk about Nick Drake today, but I changed my mind and decided to start out with the artist who in my opinion put out the best record of 2005. The record is Le fil, and the artist is Camille. She is a very talented French musician with an amazing voice and a lot of confidence. Her first album came out in 2002. Called Le sac des filles, it is good, but not extraordinary. Some of you may be familiar with the song “Ruby,” which is featured in an American commercial—fortunately I can’t remember which one. I was very pissed off when I heard it. Le fil is her second album, and superior not only to her first record, but to anything I’ve heard in a long time.

I would compare the changes, growth, and development of her two albums to the differences in Radiohead’s first two albums, Pablo Honey and The Bends. Le sac des filles is almost straight pop, with some jazzy elements, but Le fil goes far beyond pop. It begins with le fil, or the thread—one note that resounds throughout the entire album. This thread ties the album together and makes the songs run together almost like one song. One reviewer on Amazon compared the album to a suite. Another reviewer said she couldn’t sing—I have him pegged for an Avril Lavigne fan. A lot of people are comparing Camille to Bjork; I like Bjork, but she’s no Camille. She’s also compared to Fiona Apple, which is interesting simply because they both have songs called “Pale September,” although the songs are not the same. I can’t think of anyone to whom she should be compared.

Now I’ll give a quick rundown of the songs. The album begins with “La jeune fille aux cheveux blancs,” which is my favorite song. It is haunting, dark, and beautiful. My next favorite, “Ta douleur,” follows. I think this is the poppiest song on the album, and the catchiest. It’s still completely different from anything else I’ve heard. This song is where her skills at the human beatbox come into play. It’s basically a bass and her voice, but the song is still rich and diverse. “Assise” slows it down and then “Janine I” picks up the tempo a little. Some of the best beatbox is found in the series of three Janine songs. Song number five is called “Vous,” and I like it most for the backing vocals, which are strong, interesting, and odd on all the songs. “Baby Carni Bird” is a rather melancholy song with the chorus in English. “Pour que l’amour me quitte” is slow and sad. It’s very calming, which I think is necessary to get ready for what’s coming in the next few songs. “Senza” is very strange; I can’t really describe it any other way, except to say that I like it and it fits.

“Janine II” is fairly slow and contains more great beatbox. “Vertige” actually makes me kind of dizzy. “Au port” is one of the best songs on the album—great lyrics, great beat, great clapping, great sounds, great backing vocals, great everything. One thing I love about Camille is that she can sing really fast, which is best displayed on this song and on the next, “Janine III,” which is the fastest and my favorite Janine song. Her voice gets extremely raspy at one point, which sounds fantastic. “Pâle septembre” starts off really slow and sad-sounding and then picks up into something that is utterly amazing, especially if you’re listening at high volume in a car. “Rue de Ménilmontant” sounds almost like a military march at times. This is the second to last song and is very difficult to characterize. It carries you right into the last song, “Quand je marche,” which is another favorite of mine and one of the best songs on the album—a great end to a great record. Although it isn’t really the end, because after this there is half an hour of le fil.

Le fil is out on Virgin France, and if they don’t have it in your local record store, you can order it on-line. Check out the web-site: http://camille-lefil.com/. You can see videos, join a newsletter, and listen to “Ta douleur.” Buy this album. Listen to it every day.

Source: www.articlesphere.com