Here's my review:
Preface: Since ‘Nue’ in 2001 Lara has always seemed to be in the process of ‘recalibration’, like a rifleman continually adjusting his sites on the target: (French) audience appreciation. After the criticism of her ‘excessive’ vocal power, she recalibrated with ‘En toute intimate” and then “Neuf” to tone things down. Afterwards, no longer with any writer boyfriend and needing music, but also attempting to divert attention from herself, she utilized other people’s music with ‘Toutes les femmes en moi’, and in fact tried to hide her vocals amidst the instruments in the unreleased TLFM1; only the intervention by Universal’s Pascal Nègre prevented that. [By the way, the released version of TLFM is now referred to as a failure, although it did sell some 150,000 copies in Europe; all is relative here]. This led to criticism that this ‘comeback’ French album some five years after Neuf, had only one original song. In response to that, working mainly with Janey Clewer [of Bambina heritage] but also Giora Linenberg, she burst forth with 17 new songs for ‘Le Secret’. That was not deemed accessible enough, so here we are, with a more accessible album, both music and text.
Of course, this is a commercial enterprise, and one wants to sell records. But it’s also an artistic one, and what is disconcerting about the above chain of events is that the ‘adjustments’ did not appear to arise out of internal growth but seemed to have been driven by a desire to please – which as Lara says in one of the lyrics, leads to despair. To make matters worse, it didn’t, up ‘til now, lead to improved audience acceptance.
Yet this latest steering could possibly be the one that will ‘hit the bulls eye’ as one reviewer said. Here Lara has made a great album that on the surface appears to be something she was always capable of producing. That it took her more than a decade to get to this place may either imply that those were ‘lost years’, as one reviewer said, or, as I suspect is more to the point, that she had to learn through life’s events to ‘stand on her own feet’, as another lyric suggests. So maybe it was internal growth, after all…
Synopsis: ‘Ma vie dans la tienne’ is a very strong album, with topnotch singing and musicality, in various styles and tempos, and quite personal lyrics. It is her most ‘complete’ and satisfying production in more than a decade. Whether this brings her back to the leader board in the eyes of the French public is hard to predict; the music business is so personality driven these days, one wonders whether music is any longer the issue. It’s been noted that Lara has also tried to ‘reset’ her general relationship with the French public, from someone who is outspoken, perhaps a little bit odd, and very self-concerned, to a woman with a more open and caring persona – also now a recovering victim of an unfair accident. This too may ‘hit the bulls-eye’ to change her public aura into a more friendly sympathetic figure, one whose albums one would want to own. We’ll see.
Here are some general comments:
**This is a ‘mature’ album, in several senses. All that Lara has gone through as a singer – all the ups and downs of learning to sing softly as well as with power, all the singing lessons she has taken, the various venues/countries she has sung in – all of that feeds into the intelligence of the singing on display on this album. People have noted that the music has great variety, fast and slow, different beats, but to sing each of them as if each is one’s natural milieu requires experience, technique, mastery of one’s craft. It’s very easy to take Lara’s singing for granted, that’s “what she does” – but no one else does this sort of singing (IMHO) as well. As long as she retains her vocal power and range – and on this album there appears to be no doubt about that – she is right at the very top as a popular music vocalist.
** Another aspect of maturity comes with age, and life experiences, both good and bad. She’s married with a family; she’s had a serious brush with a career-ending injury; her parents are getting older. Life has shown her its various colors, and this can’t help but provide perspective that she didn’t have 15 years ago. Whereas many of her early emotional songs focused on the need for love (e.g., Si tu m’aimes; Je t’ame), the emotions on display here are righteousness, almost anger, mixed with concern (Relève-toi, L’oublie, Elle danse, Envie d’en rire); resignation (Le coeur qui tremble; Le desamour; Quand je ne chante pas – at least in the lyrics); warm feelings of love (L’illusioniste; Ma vie dans la tienne); and mature desires (Ton desir; S’il ne reste qu’un ami). These are the sentiments of a middle-aged woman who has been through emotional storms at sea and has righted her ship. Although the reviewers’ early criticisms centered on the volume of Lara’s singing, what I think they were really complaining about was the emotional need embedded in their performance; thus I don’t expect that same problem with this album (and it wasn’t a problem with ‘Le Secret’, even though the singing there was just as forecful).
**The melodies are generally strong and memorable throughout; one looks forward to hearing them each time. Elodie Hesme, working with Lara, is to be greatly congratulated.
**The level of musicianship is also routinely high throughout and the musical and instrumental variety is impressive. David Gategno is listed as the record producer, so one has to credit him with at least some component of that, although Lara undoubtedly had her say, and one wonders how much the guiding hand of Warner Music France played a role.
**The sound is generally ‘au courant’ – keeping in mind what one reviewer called this, a ‘classical’ album. By that one assumes he means songs with a melody, lyrics that mean something, rhythms that contribute rather than dominate, and most of all, singers who can sing.
. It also is an album built around an organizing principle, (other than that of producing a collection of ‘hits’), an homage to her family and friends, and a depiction of life’s experiences.
**One of the reviews noted the importance of the lyrics to the album. Actually, Lara has never gotten the proper acclaim for her lyrics, which are often poetic and meaningful, and always important. Her collaboration with David Gategno seems to have made the lyrics somewhat more straightforward than usual – another step towards making this album ‘more accessible’, although one still believes it was Lara who was driving the intent for each of the texts. Their personal nature, as usual, makes Lara’s albums very special.
**The lyrics don’t really matter if no one can understand them by listening (even though there is a written text, many people apparently don’t ever consult it), and, as reviews have pointed out, Lara’s diction is superb here, with great clarity. This too is in line with the idea of making everything more accessible. Also her mood throughout is a positive, happy one, tempered only a bit on the more reflective songs (e.g., S'il ne reste qu’un ami; Le coeur qui tremble). Perhaps she is just so relieved to be able to sing after her accident, that that mood has carried over into this whole performance. Also, she’s now very happily married. Given how emotional Lara is, mood for her plays a big role in her albums, regardless of her professionalism.
Following are comments and ‘grades’ for the individual songs. I make no effort to pretend that these grades are anything other than personal opinion! The generally high marks are indicative of how successful I feel this album is in portraying Lara’s value as an artist.
**Quand je ne chante pas: Both the music and the lyrics are of high quality on this cut, but I still think they do not match. The lyrics suggest a somewhat poignant, even sad, song, not the bouncy music we have here. Maybe Lara felt it would be too maudlin otherwise. This disparity may also be the penalty of working on the lyrics with one person and on the music with another. Ignoring this, I do like the cut, made even better by the extended duration with strings in the album version, as opposed to the radio edit we heard previously. It adds grandeur to the song. My grade: A-
A number of reviewers have suggested that this was not a good first single for the album, that it was perhaps boring and pedestrian. I disagree – I think it accomplished its purpose admirably, as it reminded the audience of what Lara gone through, health-wise, and emotionally. Notice it is often played as an introduction to her appearance on shows, and thus can’t help but produce sympathy for her on these programs, which is then forthcoming. So while musically it is perhaps not the very peak of the album, it did its job in ‘softening up the audience’.
**Ma vie dans la tienne: The strings also add a lot to this beautiful song, with honest, daring and profound lyrics. Grade: A
Some reviewers also have suggested that this was not a good single to showcase the album. Although it is a song of great quality, here I agree. It’s been somewhat humorous to watch the various TV and radio hosts try to come to terms with Lara’s implications on this song. Is she really, saying, they wonder, that she has this great love for another woman? Does she really mean it when she says they will be together in a different way in another life? [Shades of ‘Le Secret’(!)]. Too confusing for hosts who only have a passing familiarity with her.
**Le desamour: Lara would seem to have had many disenchantments in her life, like many of us, and here she puts its emotional debris in poetic perspective. With memorable music and great singing, a successful title. Grade: A
**S’il ne reste qu’un ami: The most successful of the soft/slow songs on this album, an homage to what is really important in life, a friend one can depend on. With beautiful music. Grade: A
**Envie d’en rire: Although this was not always a favorite of reviewers, to me it is a winner. The lyrics discuss the dichotomy Lara has as a part of her, from her two parents, both fire and ice. And how she has learned to live accepting both. It also presents a harsh, albeit oblique, picture of the tensions of her family life. Honest, and daring, but Lara did say that this was an album without ‘filters’. It could be that the ‘bossa nova’ beat used on this song is meant to lighten a conflicted situation, similar to what is done on ‘Quand je ne chante pas’. The music is energetic and memorable. Grade: A
**Le coeur qui tremble: Lara’s ode to her daughter is beautiful poetry, concerned with the anguish a mother feels about her child, knowing the child must take her own path in life and can’t be kept completely safe. It is somewhat less successful as a song, being ‘wordy’ in places, even though the music is softly beguiling. I think ‘Lou’ from the Mademoiselle Zhivago album was a more successful musical number, though with less poignant lyrics. Grade: B+ (although A for the lyrics).
**Ton desir: The lightest number on the album, with an infectious energy associated with fantasy and desire, this is a delight. (The equivalent in some sense to ‘Putain de grand amour’ from ‘Le Secret’). We’ll see whether it starts to wear a bit after awhile, but it does seem like an appropriate warm weather single as several reviewers have suggested - though since it goes on for a bit at the end, a radio edit would presumably be in order. Grade: A
**L’illusioniste: Lara’s homage to her husband, with lyrics that rank up near the top of love poems. The dreamy music matches the lyrics, and while not bad, it does not really elevate the song. Grade: B (although again A for the lyrics).
The three songs on this album that ‘pull at one’s heart strings, ‘S’il ne reste qu’un ami’ ,‘Le Coeur qui tremble’, ‘and ‘L’illusioniste’ are not sung with great emotionality or intensity – in that sense, they are not really the equivalent of ‘Pas sans toi’. Therefore they need the melody to raise them. Only the first of these three really has that full advantage.
**Elle danse: One way to deal with disenchantment is to resort to physical activity, the solution presented here. A song of great energy, with a melody only slightly below that of some of the others. It ends rather abruptly. Grade: A-
One wonders who this song is about. While Lara has focused attention on whom ‘L’illusioniste’, ‘Le coeur qui tremble’, and ‘Ma vie dans la tienne’ are for, nobody has asked her the identities alluded to in the other songs, and she hasn’t volunteered the information. Without this knowledge, it makes the album less personal than meets the eye, although maybe Lara is just using the personal aspect as a springboard (as she recently said about Le desamour) – and/or maybe the people involved have been informed, or didn’t have to be. Another possibility – perhaps even probability – is that many of these songs are really about herself (see the comment for L’oubli, for example). Somebody really should ask her, however.
**Releve-toi: Another solution to disenchantment, of all kinds, is to stand up, as proposed by this song. One of the great power songs of Lara’s repertoire, this is likely to be an anthem at her concerts, in a sense symbolizing herself. [It also may act as a stand-in for the missing twelfth song ‘Non coupable’, on which Lara apparently did stand up for herself with respect to being a ‘singer of voice’]. Given the current political situation, it could very well be an anthem for the general public. Grade: A (bordering on A+).
**L’oublie: The highlight of this album is the best song to close it – serious lyrics and topic, wonderful melody and instrumentation, and fantastic powerful singing. In the introduction to the album, Marc Levy says it is also Lara’s favorite. Would also be perfect to close concerts with, at least before the encores (one wouldn’t really want to end, absolutely, on this somber note…). Levy also comments that Lara says it is about “solitude, and the loss of self that can follow from it when one goes so far as to forget oneself and disappear, so as to no longer suffer” – something she herself went through to some extent with her ailment. The woman involved is described as still not having any white hair – perhaps, again, like Lara herself. However, many people feel that the lyrics which emphasize the loss of memory, limited movement, etc. suggest a more extreme ailment, such as dementia or Alzheimers, even if that wasn’t her specific intention. Grade: A+
Overall, then, with A representing 5.0, this comes out to about 4.7. So far on amazon.fr, with 23 reviewers, and calculating it an entirely different way (one number per each review), the average at this moment is 4.6.
Concerning the two bonus songs, with music written by Igor Krutoi: they do have a different feel about them, and they do not follow the topic of the main album, but then again as bonus songs accompanying the DVD (but actually on the CD), they do not necessarily have to.
**C’est ma terre: Carries the feel and even some of the progressions of the ‘Mademoiselle Zhivago’ album about it, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but in this case the music and even the lyrics (about saving the Earth) seem subpar. Grade: C
**Je vias revoir l’’hiver: This song, another ode to Lara’s love of Canada, is better, with nice lyrics and flowing music. This is not as affecting as ‘Je me souviens’ on the same topic (which gets a nod in this song), but it is enjoyable and to the point. Grade: A-
What would have made the bonus songs relate more is if Lara included ‘Mama mia’, which has never seen the light of day on an album for the French public, one of the truly great songs from the original ‘Mademoiselle Zhivago’ album. Yes, it is in English, but Lara has added English songs to otherwise French albums in the past (e.g., ‘Bridge of Hope’ on “Carpe Diem”), and besides, it would have been just a bonus song. But given that this album was about her relationships/family, a song
dedicated to her mother, especially that one, would have fit in conceptually. And nobody would have complained that it was somehow a ‘lesser’ song.
Concluding remarks: Finally, as to how this ranks among Lara’s other albums: I think it’s too soon to come to a definitive conclusion from the standpoint of quality alone, since many of Lara’s albums have had that. It takes time to see how an album ‘wears’; and even then, records cycle in and out of popularity. But it is certainly ‘way up there’ and I really look forward to listening to it each time. It is more accessible and ‘tighter’ – though less adventurous – than the sprawling ‘Le Secret’ (which nevertheless, was amazing in its own way), more original than TLFM, more vocally expressive of Lara than ‘Neuf’, so it will probably be ranked higher than those albums in most people’s minds (considering only the French language albums).
Unfortunately, for the ‘establishment’, the quantitative standpoint will determine its ranking, with the final assessment depending on whether it is commercially successful or not; this shouldn’t have the prominence it does nowadays. If it’s a big hit it will be classed with Carpe Diem, Pure and Nue (and the self-titled English album, though that seems to be ignored by the French critics); if not, it will probably be thought to be just below them, the latter two especially. It has a chance, if it’s a really big commercial success, to be the album that chiefly characterizes Lara in people’s minds from this day forth, the mature work of an amazing artist.
. It also is an album built around an organizing principle, (other than that of producing a collection of ‘hits’), an homage to her family and friends, and a depiction of life’s experiences.