Finally a live album from Dominique A – and pretty much a greatest hit at the same time.
Over fifteen years of reeling out disc after disc, Dominique A had promised a live album on more than one occasion. But it never came about: “All my recordings left me unsatisfied. It’s always the same problem. If don’t have a visual image, the audience, the physical investment of the musicians, it just wasn’t right.”
And why not settle with recording a good concert? Dominique’s dished out a fair few of those over the years. But that would be too easy. “Often great concerts make very poor recordings”, he warns. “Because the audience experiences the physical side above all, the music takes a back seat”. And on that, Dominique won’t budge. “A record is music above all else. In the arrangements, the musical workings, some things just can’t be sacrificed. Rather you should showcase them. They need to be played well, so you achieve a balance between the energy and the atmospheric, musical passages.”
Dominique A has always set the bar high. You only need to look at his impressive back catalogue: from the impactful minimalist and inaugural LA FOSSETTE, to the refined, brilliant lyricism of L’HORIZON. Indeed, for L’HORIZON, Dominique had brought together a stellar group of musicians – “with terrific ideas and whom I got on well with” – and set off with them along the concert path. In doing so, he discovered a coherence that, while he may not have realized it, had been undiscovered until then. “It was the first time I felt so supported.” He was able to finally start working on this famous new live album.
Four concerts were recorded and trawled through to pick out the best of the best: those moments when the group played perfectly, captivated by and focused on the music; when it played at its best without sacrificing the level of energy that simply makes a concert; when they struck that perfect balance between the brutal, wild side, when the group really puts its foot down, and the subtlety of, at times sophisticated, arrangements, accompanied by brass and keyboards.
Yes, but is it a “greatest hit” or not? Let’s say it sounds like one massively, but Dominique clearly isn’t making it a question of principle. Because there, too, he has to be honest: “If there’s nothing to add to a piece, there’s no point redoing it,” scathes the singer. For Dominique, a live version must enhance or surpass the original version.
In that respect, we can be reassured. Dominique and his group have come up with a bunch of new ideas. Meaning that this album sweeps through the guy’s entire career. No album is forgotten – some songs even sprout new limbs, like L’Amour, squarely presented as an overture. The pillars of his work are all here. Le courage des oiseaux, so often reinvented, has been turned here into rock-funk; La mémoire neuve, Pour la peau, Antonia are al included. The nostalgic side of Dominique A, which he could hardly convey through silence, comes out in Tout sera comme avant and Music hall. Less well known, Le commerce de l’eau and the very rare Empty white blues captivate. Lastly, as a bonus free gift, two unpublished titles have been concocted: Revoir les choses and the highly literary and deeply moving Marina.
So there you have it, a new disc from Dominique A boasting no fewer than fifteen titles. A fully rounded disc that should appeal beyond his audience of fans, so much does he go beyond the famous distinction of new “chanson française” to serve up a platter of songs that are simply superb, with singing that is at times soothing and absorbing, rustled up by a top-flight quartet of musicians. It’s the precise moment and the ideal way to discover or rediscover the artist that is Dominique A.
