Paris (AFP)
It is always an event: Renaud, battered by the vagaries of life, reconnects with the world of childhood, source of the headlines of the past, for his new album "The kids and children first".
To fit in with the world of this new opus, the preview (released on November 29th) reserved for the press was organized Wednesday night in the kindergarten of the 14th district of Paris he attended, toddler , in the 1950s.
The popular 67-year-old singer was not present, excused because of "the jitters he had when he knew that there would be 50 people present," explained Christophe Palatre, owner of the Parlophone label.
With Renaud and his demons, alcoholism and depression, the first question that inevitably comes up is: how is he today? In the clip "Les animals", the first title to the chorus plaster, the face is marked behind the salt-colored beard, the left hand trembles a little at times and the voice has lived a lot.
- "His banter" -
But it is still there, "Still standing" as proclaimed the flagship title of the previous album of 2016 ("Renaud", more than 700,000 sales). And here he enjoys a neat and efficient production, serving often mischievous texts.
"We wanted to return to a musical vocabulary that goes back to her album" A Belle de Mai + ", which follows the narrative of the text.It is an incredibly touching author," commented in front of the journalists packed on small school benches Bertrand Lamblot, co-director of the album.
"He is a true singer, we did everything to sing with his banter, to put his voice of today in value", complete Thierry Geoffroy, the other director.
Where's the drink with Renaud? He answers with a song. "Formerly, it was called Renaud fox / But since he drinks milk, it is much more pampered" is heard in "The animals".
"Poch'tronner it turns you on (...) I know a friend singer / That has lost ten years of his life / Ten years of wandering, of misfortune / Depression, hypochondria", he weighs on a very rock "We will not let ourselves rot".
He appears here reconciled with himself: "My friends have funny names / But my favorite is Renaud / It reminds of pretty songs" in "My Buddies".
The visual of the album is strong. In the video of "Les animals", the flesh-and-blood singer, perfecto and santiags, rubs cartoon characters signed Zep, famous author of the comic "Titeuf", associated with the album.
- Poem for his daughter -
The commitments have not changed. Renaud is still opposed to bullfighting. And, it's controversial but not new, the "annoying singer" shows his support, on the reverse of his leather jacket, on a badge, to Yvan Colonna, sentenced to life for the assassination of the prefect Claude Erignac, the 6 February 1998.
As an arm of honor to all those who buried him too quickly, Renaud, in this clip, flies at a time on the back of a phoenix, one of his new nicknames, and symbol of resurrection, alongside his young double of cellulose with his standard set scarf red / marinière / santiag.
The album bears the Renaud brand, that of the lexicon of the kids with a poetry born of the words flayed like their knees. Like when he sings "It was a great atmosphere / I'll be back" in "Parc Montsouris".
But Renaud is not confined to schools and high schools, as in "It is the recreation", and the foxing Fox emerges with "Pin-Pon", history of a "fireman astiqueur" who "met a lady / qu 'had fire at the ass'.
The big-hearted Renaud also dedicates a beautiful poem to his line with "LOLITA".
The next logical step is the tour. No date is advanced but the singer does not hide it. "For a song to live, it has to be sung on stage, it's more alive, there's more emotion," he insisted on RTL on Wednesday, "and then I laugh with the public, a great audience, he never let go, three or four generations, they are always there, me too. "
© 2019 AFP