Piano-speaking chansons, created over the rooftops of Paris.
Chilly Gonzales, a lifelong traveler, is currently stopping off in Paris. As a Canadian, he is culturally close to the Francophone anyway; musically, the self-proclaimed “uber-entertainer” has always appreciated the French piano kitsch of people like Michel Berger or Richard Clayderman, the chansons of Charles Aznavour or Françoise Hardy, the dance music of Daft Punk or Quentin Dupieux aka Mr. Oizo. So now the first Chilly record with French lyrics and guests. The title track shows how he succeeded with the motto: Rhyme, or I’ll eat you! And a lot of things rhyme in French: Voltaire, Flaubert, Baudelaire, Bangalter…
Chilly Gonzales speaks more than he sings, reminiscent of his great 2011 album THE UNSPEAKABLE CHILLY GONZALES, one
Hip hop record with strings. Back then, he dissected the rap scene and its language as a participant observer, and he takes the same approach here for French culture. He looks at the Notre-Dame Cathedral, which continued to burn in 2019 even when it rained: “Il Pleut Sur Notre-Dame” is the name of his sentimental song, and he is supported by the Parisian indie-pop artist Bonnie Banane.
Rhyme or I’ll eat you!
In “Piano À Paris” he is supported by the neo-disco singer Juliette Armanet, and here it’s also about Richard Clayderman, whose pure white soft piano music was so popular in the 80s that no major television show could do without him. Please stream “Ballade Pour Adeline” briefly. Earworm? You’re welcome.
Clayderman, 69, plays in “Richard Et Moi” himself – father and son, writes Chilly Gonzales, Batman and Robin, Asterix and Obelix. Finally, there is a solo piano version of the outstanding French pop song “Message Personnel”, written by Michel Berger, sung by Françoise Hardy in 1973, one of the most beautiful pieces of French music for Chilly Gonzales, whose class will last for millennia . Of course he’s right.