Chronic

Jean-Louis Aubert, like at home

Jean-Louis Aubert. © DR

11/25/2019

Jean-Louis Aubert publishes Refuge , a double album of twenty-two songs. In this sum, we find the leg of this endearing guy, who took the road solo after the episode Insus - the reformation of the group Phone, without Corine.

With his look of eternal teenager and his face marked with deep wrinkles, Jean-Louis Aubert would almost evoke Mick Jagger. But unlike the singer of the Rolling Stones, who always fills the stadiums with his group, the French pursues for nearly 35 years now a rich solo career. Almost as well-supplied as Phone's, which he reformed with Louis Bertignac and Richard Kolinka under the name of Insus, this career was marked by success. So that Aubert seems to be that old friend of the family who would come to sing you his songs.

This impression is the one we had when we saw him in concert last spring, during the acoustic tour that preceded the release of his new album. It is confirmed listening to this Refuge , where we find the singer almost unchanged, with his lyrics that speak of his childhood ( Do not lock me ), love ( Of course, As far , Where I live ), of rupture ( where to turn, you will love it ), and simply of what it is that life. "Do not seek refuge elsewhere / Be an island for yourself ," says the chorus of the title track.

Simple writing

So of course, we can find these naive words but simplicity is an integral part of this writing. And what does it matter if some ballads are a little too loaded in good feelings because it is always a nice moment to find this endearing man, who seems to be moving quite surely towards a life of grandpa rocker. Just like those things you know in advance the taste, these twenty-two pieces give the impression of hugging and comforting you.

As for arrangements, we will have noted the presence of a little electronics but everything is very simple. The climates of keyboard and some machines complete the guitars and the piano, without there being any great aesthetic madness. The impression of serenity given by the cover seems to stick to this double disc that delivers us Jean-Louis Aubert always a little dreamer. A singer who will be happy to find on stage, since he is at home in this exercise.

"As long as I can go on / I'll cry / In the emptiness of eternity / Again ... Still ... " , he says as well. It sounds like a statement of intent.

Jean-Louis Aubert Refuge (Parlophone) 2019
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By: Bastien Brun

Jean-Louis Aubert

France - French Song - album

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