Post by davidhr on Mar 15, 2009 13:58:18 GMT -5
After having her career put almost completely on hold for nearly two years, and her new album pushed back for what now appears to be five months, Lara burst forth this past week with both present and future plans.
The big ticket item of course was the release of the first single from TLFM, “Soleil Soleil”. The very existence of the single was a cause for celebration, since it increased the likelihood that the album itself would be released, something the repeated delays had seemed to make a bit questionable. [Even this is no guarantee however; remember that Sony released “the Last Goodbye” as a single in the U.S., but never released “A Wonderful Life” there. Presumably, Lara has a different relationship with Universal and its president.]
The reaction to the song itself was mixed. Some considered it too slight a song, with insipid, repetitive lyrics, to serve as her reintroduction (the first new single she released since “Aime” in 2006, and the first single of any type since “Un Cuore Malato” in 2007); one can see that response in many of the remarks on this website in the 'new singe' thread. (This aspect of the discussion on the French websites was somewhat surprising to me, for rarely if ever are Lara’s complex, metaphorical lyrics the subject of discussion or analysis there.) Others said the song felt fresh, with its lively tempo – a little like “Un Cuore Malato” – aimed at giving her a more positive image. In fact, it is a paean to the sun. For those not familiar with the lyrics, here’s a translation (Paula thanks for your version):
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sun, Sun
When the sky will be less gray
It will hold me in its arms
One day like a friend
It will come back to us
But I already want
To sing for you
Oh sun, sun, sun, sun, sun
Oh sun, sun, sun, sun, sun
Come go out finally from the night
And the winter will leave
Come you who rains
A big fire of joy
We wait for you
To wake up
Oh sun, sun, sun, sun, sun
Oh sun, sun, sun, sun, sun
_______________________________________________________________________
As the lyrics indicate, it is really a song for summer - one could argue that it should have been released closer to the summer, perhaps as a second single. However, it arrives just a week before the sun returns to the Northern Hemisphere (i.e., Spring), and, not to carry the metaphor too far, hopefully will mark the rising of the sun on the next portion of Lara’s career.
One thing that people were in agreement about was that Lara’s singing was top-notch, with (finally!) a full-throated presentation that made use of her vocal skills. This is in direct contrast with the complaints concerning the songs heard last October, in which she seemed to pull back from singing strongly. Some felt that her hesitance was once again in response to the past criticism in France of her singing too forcefully; if so, perhaps this is in response to the more recent criticism of her singing too softly! For whatever reason, it is very welcome, and leads one to hope that the rest of the album will feature strong singing as well. If so, it will alleviate many of the worries people have had about an album of reprises.
There is no mystery as to why Lara included a song sung by Nana Mouskouri on the album. As she has explained, when. growing up her parents had her listen to three singers in particular, of whom Nana was one (the others being Barbra Streisand and Amelia Rodriguez). And as she further noted, when she was little she was taken to one of Nana's concerts. On hearing Lara singing along in the audience, Nana brought her onto the stage to sing with her. You may remember Lara attended Nana's farewell concert last year.
As to why this particular song, Lara has indicated that there will be text included with the CD explaining what each song meant to her, so presumably we'll find out. Lyrics aside, fans noted that Lara has one song such as this on most of her albums: “Humana” on ‘Pure’, “Rio” on ‘Nue’, “L'homme qui n'avait pas de maison” on ‘Neuf’ (and if you expand the definition a bit, “Saisir le jour” on ‘Carpe Diem’, and “Silence” on ‘A Wonderful Life’). Of course Lara wrote the lyrics for those, so even those "happy" songs have more complicated themes.
The manner by which this obviously important event became known to the public was once again an indication of the dysfunctional nature of Lara's organization. It required Laetitia from larafabianweb.com to inform people the single was to be released to radio stations, and then to tell them it had been. Only belatedly did the Official site acknowledge it. Instead they were apparently busy removing all sorts of "offending" messages from their forum - and of course this state of affairs only provided them with more offending messages to remove.
The entire single was posted on Youtube last week but Lara requested that it be removed. [Ocelot in the other thread kindly indicated that it was available at www.sendspace.com/file/qsjeed]. Since their hope is that radio stations will play it, and these (recordable) stations are available on the web, this action would seem to be of limited utility (RTL has already aired it). And it's even self-defeating - if the whole purpose of the single is to promote the new album, why limit its distribution? One fan suggested that to avoid illegal downloads, the song should have been put on iTunes at the same time it was released to radio stations - that would require a business approach that unfortunately seems to be beyond Lara’s organization.
Laetitia also informed people that the release of TLFM had been moved up (!) by several weeks, to May 25th. Several days later, the Official site acknowledged that, too. This will not avoid the large-scale French summer recess in June, but it's a step in the right direction.
What is purported to be the latest configuration of the new album was presented at:
www.web-libre.org/breves/Lara-Fabian,4573.html
1. Göttingen,
2. Hymne a l’amour,
3. Mamy Blue,
4. Message personnel,
5. J’ai 12 ans,
6. Il venait d’avoir 18 ans,
7. Babacar,
8. L’amour existe encore,
9. Nuit magique,
10. Soleil, soleil,
11. Amoureuse,
12. Femme avec toi.
We can see that there is no other obvious song of this nature. Missing from the list originally given by the publication ‘Platine’ for the previous incarnation of this album (see the News Update of 11/16/08) is "Ca casse" (which was actually my favorite from the 6 songs heard earlier – thus we still have it ).
One piece of information the Official site did provide was the following list of promotions Lara would be undertaking. All of these are TV shows:
- Quelques chose en nous de Lara Fabian (RTBF)
- Rendez-vous avec mon idole (TF1)
- Les années bonheur (FRANCE 2)
- 10h le mag (TF1)
- La boîte à musique
In addition, LaraFe on Hezia’s site indicates that Lara will be on the radio show 'Rien à signaler'.
No dates have been attached to any of these, and Nathalie implied there would be more events. It would seem prudent to try and create a buzz a little while before the album's release; larafabianweb.com indicates that they will be in May.
Bambinat on the official site reported that the program devoted to Lara, “Quelque chose en nous de…” on RTBF in Belgium, would be recorded on March 24 and 25th, and that they were looking for audience members. The program has been acknowledged on the official site. A TV show devoted to Lara would be great timing for the album.
Looking further ahead, several of Lara’s autumn tour sites have already been decided on (e.g., Liége 09 /29; Belgium, 10/2); in fact, the announcements made last October in some publications about dates in Belgium and France do seem to have been accurate (and not part of the false rumors). Once again, the Official site does not have these listings.
At the same time as this was going on, several rumors surfaced. One said that Lara's next album of French original songs was already finished, and would be released 3 months after TLFM, in time for her autumn tour - that way she could promote them both at once. Another source inducated that this next album would actually be relased in 2010. Skepticism about all aspects of this story would seem appropriate.
"France-Soir" had an article, picked up by many other publications, that Lara would be taking the lead role in a French production of "Victor Victoria" in 2010. An extensive list of articles on this topic is given on the official site forum at:
www.larafabian.com/forumLara/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=8562&sid=402fa3f2467c55f5cdcd95137c8a794e
(you can also see it discussed in the link for the new songs given above). The groundswell of public reaction was so great that Lara’s people had to intervene, and Gerard denied it.
Similarly, it was widely published that Lara would appear last night in Lyon at the Coeur du gospel concert. “Thierry 021” on Hezia’s site lists various publications that mention it. This too proved to be untrue.
One wonders where such things come from - was Lara actually negotiating for the Victor/Victoria role and it fell through? For that matter, who told Laetitia about the single when the Official site was oblivious? The chain of information concerning Lara's doings is as opaque as ever (and hence capable of being manipulated -larafabianweb.com was right about this but has been very wrong in the past...).
As the events of the past several weeks aptly indicate, the fans' problem with rumors is this: if something is confirmed on the official site, it may or may not happen (Lara can back out), although at least the intention was there; if it is not confirmed, it still may or may not happen. Only if the Official site bothers to deny something do we know that the rumor is false. Separating fact from fiction concerning Lara is a full-time job!
While Lara was out of sight during all this, Thierry67 put some nice photos of Lara on the official site, at:
www.larafabian.com/forumLara/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=7847&sid=2ba4535e6acd02781035845b56ee0fd8&start=150
Lara's career took a definite upturn this week, and probably no one is happier than she is, after all this time. Along with the Belgian TV show about her, the promos, the duo on TF1, and finally the album itself – all of this promises much more of what Lara does well, diverting attention from the problems with her organization and the false rumors. Perhaps this does mark the return of 'le soleil', as the spotlight returns to her.
David
The big ticket item of course was the release of the first single from TLFM, “Soleil Soleil”. The very existence of the single was a cause for celebration, since it increased the likelihood that the album itself would be released, something the repeated delays had seemed to make a bit questionable. [Even this is no guarantee however; remember that Sony released “the Last Goodbye” as a single in the U.S., but never released “A Wonderful Life” there. Presumably, Lara has a different relationship with Universal and its president.]
The reaction to the song itself was mixed. Some considered it too slight a song, with insipid, repetitive lyrics, to serve as her reintroduction (the first new single she released since “Aime” in 2006, and the first single of any type since “Un Cuore Malato” in 2007); one can see that response in many of the remarks on this website in the 'new singe' thread. (This aspect of the discussion on the French websites was somewhat surprising to me, for rarely if ever are Lara’s complex, metaphorical lyrics the subject of discussion or analysis there.) Others said the song felt fresh, with its lively tempo – a little like “Un Cuore Malato” – aimed at giving her a more positive image. In fact, it is a paean to the sun. For those not familiar with the lyrics, here’s a translation (Paula thanks for your version):
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sun, Sun
When the sky will be less gray
It will hold me in its arms
One day like a friend
It will come back to us
But I already want
To sing for you
Oh sun, sun, sun, sun, sun
Oh sun, sun, sun, sun, sun
Come go out finally from the night
And the winter will leave
Come you who rains
A big fire of joy
We wait for you
To wake up
Oh sun, sun, sun, sun, sun
Oh sun, sun, sun, sun, sun
_______________________________________________________________________
As the lyrics indicate, it is really a song for summer - one could argue that it should have been released closer to the summer, perhaps as a second single. However, it arrives just a week before the sun returns to the Northern Hemisphere (i.e., Spring), and, not to carry the metaphor too far, hopefully will mark the rising of the sun on the next portion of Lara’s career.
One thing that people were in agreement about was that Lara’s singing was top-notch, with (finally!) a full-throated presentation that made use of her vocal skills. This is in direct contrast with the complaints concerning the songs heard last October, in which she seemed to pull back from singing strongly. Some felt that her hesitance was once again in response to the past criticism in France of her singing too forcefully; if so, perhaps this is in response to the more recent criticism of her singing too softly! For whatever reason, it is very welcome, and leads one to hope that the rest of the album will feature strong singing as well. If so, it will alleviate many of the worries people have had about an album of reprises.
There is no mystery as to why Lara included a song sung by Nana Mouskouri on the album. As she has explained, when. growing up her parents had her listen to three singers in particular, of whom Nana was one (the others being Barbra Streisand and Amelia Rodriguez). And as she further noted, when she was little she was taken to one of Nana's concerts. On hearing Lara singing along in the audience, Nana brought her onto the stage to sing with her. You may remember Lara attended Nana's farewell concert last year.
As to why this particular song, Lara has indicated that there will be text included with the CD explaining what each song meant to her, so presumably we'll find out. Lyrics aside, fans noted that Lara has one song such as this on most of her albums: “Humana” on ‘Pure’, “Rio” on ‘Nue’, “L'homme qui n'avait pas de maison” on ‘Neuf’ (and if you expand the definition a bit, “Saisir le jour” on ‘Carpe Diem’, and “Silence” on ‘A Wonderful Life’). Of course Lara wrote the lyrics for those, so even those "happy" songs have more complicated themes.
The manner by which this obviously important event became known to the public was once again an indication of the dysfunctional nature of Lara's organization. It required Laetitia from larafabianweb.com to inform people the single was to be released to radio stations, and then to tell them it had been. Only belatedly did the Official site acknowledge it. Instead they were apparently busy removing all sorts of "offending" messages from their forum - and of course this state of affairs only provided them with more offending messages to remove.
The entire single was posted on Youtube last week but Lara requested that it be removed. [Ocelot in the other thread kindly indicated that it was available at www.sendspace.com/file/qsjeed]. Since their hope is that radio stations will play it, and these (recordable) stations are available on the web, this action would seem to be of limited utility (RTL has already aired it). And it's even self-defeating - if the whole purpose of the single is to promote the new album, why limit its distribution? One fan suggested that to avoid illegal downloads, the song should have been put on iTunes at the same time it was released to radio stations - that would require a business approach that unfortunately seems to be beyond Lara’s organization.
Laetitia also informed people that the release of TLFM had been moved up (!) by several weeks, to May 25th. Several days later, the Official site acknowledged that, too. This will not avoid the large-scale French summer recess in June, but it's a step in the right direction.
What is purported to be the latest configuration of the new album was presented at:
www.web-libre.org/breves/Lara-Fabian,4573.html
1. Göttingen,
2. Hymne a l’amour,
3. Mamy Blue,
4. Message personnel,
5. J’ai 12 ans,
6. Il venait d’avoir 18 ans,
7. Babacar,
8. L’amour existe encore,
9. Nuit magique,
10. Soleil, soleil,
11. Amoureuse,
12. Femme avec toi.
We can see that there is no other obvious song of this nature. Missing from the list originally given by the publication ‘Platine’ for the previous incarnation of this album (see the News Update of 11/16/08) is "Ca casse" (which was actually my favorite from the 6 songs heard earlier – thus we still have it ).
One piece of information the Official site did provide was the following list of promotions Lara would be undertaking. All of these are TV shows:
- Quelques chose en nous de Lara Fabian (RTBF)
- Rendez-vous avec mon idole (TF1)
- Les années bonheur (FRANCE 2)
- 10h le mag (TF1)
- La boîte à musique
In addition, LaraFe on Hezia’s site indicates that Lara will be on the radio show 'Rien à signaler'.
No dates have been attached to any of these, and Nathalie implied there would be more events. It would seem prudent to try and create a buzz a little while before the album's release; larafabianweb.com indicates that they will be in May.
Bambinat on the official site reported that the program devoted to Lara, “Quelque chose en nous de…” on RTBF in Belgium, would be recorded on March 24 and 25th, and that they were looking for audience members. The program has been acknowledged on the official site. A TV show devoted to Lara would be great timing for the album.
Looking further ahead, several of Lara’s autumn tour sites have already been decided on (e.g., Liége 09 /29; Belgium, 10/2); in fact, the announcements made last October in some publications about dates in Belgium and France do seem to have been accurate (and not part of the false rumors). Once again, the Official site does not have these listings.
At the same time as this was going on, several rumors surfaced. One said that Lara's next album of French original songs was already finished, and would be released 3 months after TLFM, in time for her autumn tour - that way she could promote them both at once. Another source inducated that this next album would actually be relased in 2010. Skepticism about all aspects of this story would seem appropriate.
"France-Soir" had an article, picked up by many other publications, that Lara would be taking the lead role in a French production of "Victor Victoria" in 2010. An extensive list of articles on this topic is given on the official site forum at:
www.larafabian.com/forumLara/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=8562&sid=402fa3f2467c55f5cdcd95137c8a794e
(you can also see it discussed in the link for the new songs given above). The groundswell of public reaction was so great that Lara’s people had to intervene, and Gerard denied it.
Similarly, it was widely published that Lara would appear last night in Lyon at the Coeur du gospel concert. “Thierry 021” on Hezia’s site lists various publications that mention it. This too proved to be untrue.
One wonders where such things come from - was Lara actually negotiating for the Victor/Victoria role and it fell through? For that matter, who told Laetitia about the single when the Official site was oblivious? The chain of information concerning Lara's doings is as opaque as ever (and hence capable of being manipulated -larafabianweb.com was right about this but has been very wrong in the past...).
As the events of the past several weeks aptly indicate, the fans' problem with rumors is this: if something is confirmed on the official site, it may or may not happen (Lara can back out), although at least the intention was there; if it is not confirmed, it still may or may not happen. Only if the Official site bothers to deny something do we know that the rumor is false. Separating fact from fiction concerning Lara is a full-time job!
While Lara was out of sight during all this, Thierry67 put some nice photos of Lara on the official site, at:
www.larafabian.com/forumLara/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=7847&sid=2ba4535e6acd02781035845b56ee0fd8&start=150
Lara's career took a definite upturn this week, and probably no one is happier than she is, after all this time. Along with the Belgian TV show about her, the promos, the duo on TF1, and finally the album itself – all of this promises much more of what Lara does well, diverting attention from the problems with her organization and the false rumors. Perhaps this does mark the return of 'le soleil', as the spotlight returns to her.
David