Guilhem Valayé - Mes Chiens ne Dorment pas

So him.
I am very happy to finally have the opportunity to feature in this site this artist that I have been following for more than 10 years. First with his band, 3 Minutes sur Mer. Then I exceptionally watched The Voice on TV just to see him. Luckily, this media interlude did not stop his artistic progress and apparently had no consequences, except for a duet with Zazie on the 2nd album of 3 Minutes sur Mer. He could have come at a worse time. Then came the break-up of the band, and a necessary solo twist. Without rushing, he took the time to rebuild. Released an EP of extreme stripped-down style, gave a few concerts here and there. I was there.

And so this album. His 1st all by himself. Very good album. So him. (As it seems.) You can guess a lot of work underneath it.
Especially when we notice surprising associations of words, unexpected words that are never heard in songs (gramophone, weed, lapping, intemperance, mouthpiece, heliophile...) and of which you wonder if they were chosen for their sound or for their meaning. By proceeding this way, others would quickly fall into ridicule – I have heard some – but not him! The writing of the melodic line is just as free, sometimes giving the impression of moving forward a little at random.

Puns punctuate the lyrics at regular intervals until the tribute "Fort Adamo" (play on words "Fort Alamo" and singer Salvatore Adamo).
We escape into a lush nature with the "koala" (his totem animal at the boy scouts?)
Beyond a few pirouettes, his lyrics, in a very personal style, implicitly question the way the world has been going in recent years, whether it is our indifference to the fate of migrants in the Mediterranean ("Des Foules") or the management of the health crisis and confinements underlining our resignation ("Lâchetés Ordinaires").
Guilhem Valayé is a rare and precious voice, or way, in French chanson.

If the voice is preponderant in the production of the album, special care has been given to the sound design (the intro of "Nous Sommes" would not clash in a Radiohead record). Pretty suits tailor-made by Mathild Empereur. In small touches. "Happy spells", says the cover. That's exactly it.

With an acute political awareness in the background, the aesthete does not depart from a great sense of the collective ("Des Foules", "Nous Sommes"). He is us. So us.