Arno Alyvan - Là Où Tu Tombes

Why should I beat around the bush? I like what this guy does.
At first glance, his personal album looks a lot (too much?) like Benjamin Biolay. The voice, the way of singing. Yet I've never been a Biolay fan. Well, he doesn't bother me either, and he even seems likeable. But his songs don't thrill me. Unlike Arno Alyvan's.

After the striking comparison, when you listen more you can see the quality of the compositions, which involve you in their whirl. All of them. (Whirl of strings, often).

The female voices of his long-standing partners Claire Denamur and Gillian Boughey (with whom he set up a duo called So Friday) bring an undeniable plus. I would even go as far as to say that they are here indispensable, that the album wouldn't be the same without them. They seem to help singer Arno to the extra mile, may they appear in backing vocals or in duo. About duo, the verses of "Je Te Tiens" remind me of another duo, between Le Larron and Lisa Portelli ("Tes Yeux Verts"). And speaking of resemblances, the chorus of "À Suivre", with its symbolic takeoff, completely sounds like Étienne Daho.

The sound is just perfect (listen to "Un Jour Soudain" through headphones). Could it be a different story altogether, coming from the soundtrack master of criminal series like Caïn, Tandem, Tropiques Criminels, Meurtres à...?

Never corny, the lyrics approach various topics: children of divorce ("Sèche Tes Larmes"), divorce itself (irritated in "Peut-être", pacified in "À Suivre"), death ("No Man's Land"), social media and this devastated planet we leave to our children ("Là Où Tu Tombes (Part.2)"), rebirth ("Un Jour Soudain"), end of childhood ("La Longe").
Maybe the big surprise is here! This inexhaustible sound worker, who so far got us used to his compositions with no or English words (that he rarely was the lyricist), can write too, in French, and rather well I have to say. He uses unexpected terms and, in veiled terms, tells us a lot about him. And maybe about us too.

And he won’t stop here. I’ve heard it said that he already was preparing a new album. Electro this time. One more challenge that he’ll pass, without beating around the bush.