Des ballons rouges

Sugar + Sun : A Rare Breed of Album Listening to 36 year old Guillaume Cantillons' ode to his childhood on his first solo album "Des Ballons Rouges", you can't help but wonder how some albums have the power and ability to transcend both language and musical genre. Upon first listen, this disc is a combination of light folk-pop (think Jack Johnson), with some indie-pop sensibilities as well (think Belle and Sebastian). Fortunately, Cantillon manages quite a feat as no two songs sound the same here, despite all being of the confessional and heart-baring variety. While the lyrics of the lead title track are perhaps the most effective, the best track musically is "Vas y Parle", which uses an effective piano-driven melody that flits and out really beautifully. On the English language "Hello hello hello", Cantillon sounds oddly endearing - his rather strong Franco-English accent making the track a quirky little ditty not unlike Scottish group Aberfeldy (in fact, this record is as solid as Aberfeldy's "Young Forever"). My personal favorite, though it probably won't make many peoples' playlists, is "Comme Avant" as it reflected my own current place in life - which I guess is the beauty of Guillaume's songwriting - it does pay to have a basic understanding of French before you listen to it, as you might miss some of the finer elements on display here. "C'etait vachement bien", for example, is a beautiful spoken word-over-folk guitar song where Cantillon recollects his childhood and first loves. While some of the song titles might seem weird and just plain pedestrian ("Hello hello hello", "Non non non", "La la la"), you really need to listen to the music to let this album just soar. The spellbinding "Volontiers" has a pop-chorus to kill for (reminiscent of Isobel Campbell) and the fitting closer is a tender way to end a really good album. For those of you who are new to Cantillon, he has been around for a while, as the lead singer of the French-pop band Kaolin. Their third album, "Melanger des Couleurs" was a gigantic hit in France, and Cantillon decided to go solo based upon that success. Which is a good thing, because his solo album is at least five times as good as anything he did with Kaolin. What I really appreciated about this album is that you can listen to it again and again, and always discover something new about it - a note here, a musical interlude there, and its' melodies really stick (if you want tunes you can remember and hum to yourself all day, this is the album made for you) What a great year for French music. Between Vanessa Paradis' "Divinidylle Tour" and Ben Ricours' "Ton Image", I've been really spoilt for choice. This album is clearly one of 2008's musical highlights, and a must-buy for your collection. Also note that French releases, unlike many contemporary US/UK releases, spend a lot of money on their artwork and the CD Booklet. I love CD booklets, and in this age of digital, its great that artists are still investing in good CD artwork and photography. This albums' artwork is exquisite, so get the physical copy. And if you loved this, try tracking down French indie artist Naturalibus and their self-titled debut CD. (~ Marc Cabir Davis)