Benjamin Biolay

Négatif (Virgin, France)
by Michael McCarthy

France’s Benjamin Biolay follows up his REMIX EP with a two-CD album entitled Négatif. Amazingly, the sophomore effort is even better than his critically-acclaimed debut, Rose Kennedy. A seductive mix of folk, pop, piano, and electronica, it’s probably the one contemporary French pop disc to be released this year that the late Serge Gainsbourg would have appreciated. One can easily imagine Jane Birkin singing these songs in the 1970s; they have that classic, silly French pop vibe. And yet they still manage to sound contemporary, thanks to the superb production and subtle electronic details. “Hors la vie” is so sweet, one might call it a lullaby, while “Chaise à Tokyo” is the sort of quirky chanson Momus writes for Kahimi Karie. The only negative thing I will say about Négatif is that I don’t listen to the second disc very often. The first disc is 14 songs, and by the time I’ve listened to that, I’m ready for something else. The seven-song second disc, which is not all that different from the first disc, rarely gets any airplay at chez moi. That said, the songs are as solid as those on the first disc and the album is priced as a single disc, so it’s hardly an imposition.
(www.benjaminbiolay.com)