French Music: "La Nouvelle" by Bertrand Belin, 2022
Bertrand Belin is a beautiful oddity whose songs chase the pulse as if you would like to dance but stand undecided at edge of the dance floor.
Bertran Belin – La Nouvelle
Belin is a contemporary singer, but someone I have come to like while we’ve been here. And I love this song, even if I don’t love everything he does.
This a more uptempo song compared to many of his stripped-down songs, maybe rooted a bit in French chanson and pop styles, but unique. David Byrne-ish oddity with sometimes overwrought ballideering, it’s lyrical storytelling with a pop quality that works: “La Nouvelle” is one of my favorites of his.
I can’t do a much better description than one of the French reviews. Below is a direct translation, the type we see a lot over here.
Yes, they used his whole name that many times in the first paragraph.
Bertrand Belin is in his own way a beautiful oddity who makes songs that chase the pulse. Songs that would like to make you dance but hold you back in the undecided box of the dance floor. Bertrand Belin is, in his own way, a dandy who dreams his songs like rings of fire chasing the sweat of bodies enamored with Mambo, rumba, or bossa nova. Bertrand Belin is, despite himself, a man of words who shuns the lyrical and dense languor of the singer-songwriter genre. Bertrand Belin might be the best definition of a form of masculinity that is unaware of itself. Bertrand Belin composes bony songs that he tries each time to clothe, fearing to unsettle the skeleton.
Belin’s music captures a sense of elegant oddity; his songs possess an underlying pulse, a life force that propels them forward. Yet, there’s a tension in his music, a deliberate hesitation that holds listeners at the edge of the dance floor—captivated, but uncertain. This quality illustrates Belin’s dandy-like approach to music: sophisticated, a bit flamboyant, and always with a hint of the theatrical, drawing on the sensual rhythms of Mambo, rumba, and bossa nova to evoke the physicality and sweat of dance.
However, Belin is not just a musician but a craftsman of words. He consciously moves away from the densely packed lyricism characteristic of traditional singer-songwriters, seeking instead a clarity and simplicity that convey his themes without unnecessary embellishment. His songs are described as "bony," a metaphor highlighting their stripped-down nature, focusing on the essence rather than the adornment.
