(Chanson, French Folk, Pop) Philippe B (Philippe Bergeron) - La grande nuit vidéo - 2017, MP3, 320 kbps

Beauty is still at the center of the work of Philippe B. On the big night video, its fifth in solo mode, it presents several facets. First of all by the richness of the arrangements, never pompous, always at the service of the song. Then by poetry at once simple and abounding; A dichotomy skilfully mastered by Philippe B. Finally, there are these three songs where the wonderful voice of Laurence Lafond-Beaulne (a half of Milk & Bone) comes to surprise the listener and to marry to the universe of the author. The most embodied duo is probably the one for Rouge-gorge, a beautiful ballad tinged with love passion that explodes in a capsizing orchestral bridge. The other two: Out Exit and Anywhere are also among the favorite pieces of the album.
Philippe B makes us once again waltz between the guitars and the piano and if the texts are strong and pictorial; Melodically, it first seemed to me to do a little bit of place. The feeling that it moves in a certain comfort fades after a few listenings. The album sounds very "Philippe B" and if such a statement may seem simplistic, it aims rather to demonstrate that we love Philippe B when he surprises us. Songs like Self-portrait or The Season of All Dangers, while pretty, could very well have been on Ornithology, for example at night. This continuity could have been a proof of a certain comfort, but in the course of listening, the album embraces an identity of its own and we appreciate all those small subtleties that anchor the songs in this record to the character of romantico-dramatic comedy.
In intercity Philippe B sings: "But you know the beauty, hides a little everywhere, it must be tame, that it comes to us ..." These words summarize wonderfully the link that binds me to this album. An album of love, profoundly human in all its blunders, its poetry and its unpredictability.