Vilius Kazlauskas - 5/30/2012

French singer Émilie Simon returns with her 5th studio album "Franky Knight", the tribute to her deceased boyfriend, as well serving as a soundtrack for La Délicatesse, a new French movie based on the novel of the same name by David Foenkinos. There are 10 songs in the album : 1 instrumental song, 5 sung in English, 3 in French and 1 jointly in English and French.
The pain of loss, the memories, the long hours of missing the one, who's gone and will never come back but he always will be remembered - it's no wonder that the nature of the new Simon's album is full of emotions and the depth of heartbreaking experiences.
The opening lines of the first song, "Mon Chevalier", start by stating: "I wrote some songs they're all for you" - she cherishes her memories about him. Without a doubt, there couldn't be the better way to start a journey to the land of memories about the lost love and Émilie does it perfectly with these striking lyrics. A tender ghost, soul, clouds (nuages), flowers (fleurs), trains (trains), trees (arbres), heaven (ciel), God (Dieu) - these tiny, beautiful elements create the magical atmosphere for the song. In addition, it shows off two sides of the singer: as in English she sounds Bushesque fragile, in French opens even more softer. Nevertheless, none of the parts fail, on the contrary, they shine out.
In the rest of the album the singer continues to evoke her feelings and memories by refusing to accept the loss: "Still your princess/I don't want you to go", "You're in my mind all the time", speaking to the one she loves: "And I hope that you can hear me", promising to treasure him forever: "I will always keep our memories" and finally culminating with those simple words I love you (je t'aime) in the final song.
The music also acts its significant role in the production: it immerses you and makes to become addicted - arrangements for the songs are either very intensive, leading to the culmination or like lullabies, lulling and very sweet, in both cases it works like an enchanting circle making you listen over and over again to hear this lacking end. Xylophones make that 'immerse yourself in the music' effect in the first song, as well as other instruments like the Hammond organ, piano, violoncello, contrabass, even a music box later on.
For whose, who are tired of seeing reality TV show stars coming out each year with often having nothing to offer Émilie Simon could be an answer: singer, songwriter, composer - she does a lot in her albums but despite being a person in many roles surprisingly she doesn't fail and manages to stun every time when the new album is out. The singer with an established career now could be seen in the same circles as such grand artists like Björk, Kate Bush, Goldfrapp but electronic enchantress manages to create her very own world with a soft and fragile, a bit childish, nevertheless thrilling voice.