SOUVENIR : Souvenir

Tracklisting:

1. Quand Tu Reviendras

2. Belles-De-Jour

3. Ne Dis Pas

4. Au Bord Du Soleil

5. Dusty

6. La Femme Aux Mille Visages

Voilá! Shelflife brings you the exquisite cdep debut of Spanish trio Souvenir, made up of Patricia (singer), J'aime (guitar, keyboards and programming) and Pablo (bass). Six delicious slices of pop sung in French just to remind us that the spirit of Françoise Hardy, France Gall, Jane Birkin and even Sylvie Vartan or Brigitte Bardot, is still alive in many different ways, making more sense than ever, and shining with the colour and shimmer of the Spring of 1969. Just like the special feelings one gets from the six different sleeves - one per song - designed to give the listener the perfect atmosphere. Songs like "Au Bord Du Soleil" or "La Femme Aux Mille Visages" contain the essence of France Gall's wicked naivety, embodied here by the sweet voice of Patricia. Not to mention the subtle shadow cast by Françoise Hardy on "Belles-de-Jour", a keen reference to the archetype of French beauty that makes us blush with the shyness of 'all the boys and girls'... Or the bohemian, dreamy gleam of the left bank of the Seine, in which they seem to delight when performing "Quand tu reviendras" and "Dusty", a further tribute to another pop muse from the 60s, british singer Dusty Springfield. A lively and perennial remembrance that conspiratorially winks at the music scene of that era with "Ne Dis Pas", a cover of The Beach Boys' "Girl Don't Tell Me", complete with French lyrics!

Being their first record, it's astonishing how Souvenir manage to convey both their vindication of French as the language of pop and an unmistakable way of living and understanding music. A charismatic attitude full of tenderness, melancholy, gentleness, irony, naivety, wickedness... that gently wraps around each and every one of their songs. A way of understanding music that couldn't have found a better place to happen than in De Lucas, the studio where other Spanish bands like Le Mans or La Buena Vida, closely related to Souvenir's modus operandi, recorded before.