Alizée
Mes Courants Electriques (Polydor Records)
by Michael McCarthy
Mes Courants Electriques… is the second album by France’s immensely popular Alizée. Like her debut, Gourmandises, all of the songs on this sophomore effort were written and produced by Mylène Farmer and her longtime collaborator, Laurent Boutonnat. In fact, Boutonnat also handled the programming and keyboards, making it truly sound like a Mylène Farmer album sans Mylène. Something that makes one wonder why Mylène didn’t contribute some backing vocals to the disc, but then that might’ve made it a bit harder for listeners to regard the disc as Alizée’s second album and not a Mylène Farmer side-project. Still, it was its status as a Mylène Farmer side-project that helped Gourmandises sell millions and millions and win damn near every award a pop album could possibly win throughout Europe, so that might not’ve been a bad thing. But it’s probably a sign of respect for her prodigy that Mylène refrained from singing on the disc, not wanting to upstage her.
Alizée’s voice still sounds as sweet and youthful as it did on Gourmandises – and she’s still wearing those Lolita-style short skirts – but there exists a nice progression between the two albums. There are little things she does with her voice on Mes Courants Electriques that show her growth as a singer. Subtle things, but still… There’s a meow-like sound she makes during the first verse of “Toc de Mac” that demonstrates how at home she feels with these songs and with her singing. A giddy little expression that any of our pop starlets here in the States would never’ve released. But there’s something beyond her adorable smile and the freshness of her voice – the rare ability to convey irony with her voice. (No wonder the extremely mysterious Mylène chose her when she wanted to write for someone else.)
The first single, “J’en ai marre!,” translates to “I’m Fed Up!” in English, yet she sings it playfully, as if she’s having a great time, merely being sarcastic. Which makes sense, since the lyrics would seem to be about forgetting her troubles in a bubble bath. (At least at first glance. Is the poisson really a fish or, dare I wonder, a vibrator? Hmm… Guess they had to top the controversy of Gourmandises‘ “Moi… Lolita” somehow.) Easier to understand is “Amélie m’a dit,” which would seem to be a nice homage to the movie of the same name that translates as “Amélie Told Me.” If you like Tatu’s blend of pop, electronica, and naughty lyrics, you won’t want to miss this. And don’t bother waiting for an English-language version of the disc because it’s not going to happen.
(www.moi-alizee.com)
