japprecie
music to live through
  • Français (FR)
  • English (UK)
Receive website news:

New!!  The Swiss playlist:   audio  video


Sophie Zelmani - My Song

My singer

Sophie Zelmani - My Song Image 1
  • 2017
  • Sophie Zelmani - My Song Image 1
  • 10

If No Money Kids or Kaleo, my previous cards, were poison, then Sophie Zelmani would be the absolute antidote.

Her music is soothing, and I often put it in my ears at night to fall asleep with. I imagine my sleep then is of better quality.

My song is probably not her best album amongst the 11 (not her worst either), but I felt I had to let her appear in japprecie for the whole of her work.

Immediately, a song stood out: "The Happy Woman Cries". No doubt, it’s the Sophie I love at once: lively, folk, intoxicating, whirling. Of course, this is not new; she did dozens after this pattern, from "Happier Man" to "Story of Us" by way of "Yes I Am". But it still works!

I then took an interest in the calmer pieces. There’s a folk neighbourhood with Tom McRae; both have in common the ability to use the silences. Except Tom can pile instruments up whereas Sophie appears a lot more minimalist.
In her little songs indeed, there’s nothing... but everything. Everything to be enough. Containing a big emotional charge. The very essence of each song is brought out. Lars Halapi’s delicate instrumentations (see their fineness on "No Victims") like Sophie’s whispering voice – by choice! – give in to this aim. Because for her (like for Daran), a song is 50% lyrics 50% music. And she signs everything herself, willingly making reference to Bob Dylan or Leonard Cohen.

So you move from a mood to another, from sun to rain ("Bless Me"), you take shelter in dreaming ("Dreams Are Better"), in questioning about love ("I Wonder") and about couple ("This Prison"), in writing ("My Song" – with its snippets of old tracks like "Happier Man", "I'm the Rain", "Should I Tell You"). In short, an introspection, almost a therapy, better after all than an antidote against all that poisons us.



Sophie Zelmani - My Song Image 1
  • Of course, Sophie Zelmani’s albums never were long, which matches the simple, intimate and concise style of her musical expression, but this one outperforms them all: not even 34 minutes. Only "When Times Are Bad" lengthens a bit, with its gospel-like backing vocals, which is rather a good thing.

  • The Happy Woman Cries
    Bless Me
    I Wonder
  • Imagine
  • The sentence

    “I'm here as your companion when you need to dream away” ("No Victims")

  • her
    sophie-zelmani.com (115 Hits)
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Zelmani (82 Hits)
  • ...And now, listen!
    • www.deezer.com/album/15498734 (87 Hits)
    • open.spotify.com/album/4uswwFBHVqIytySmHvQ8Mh (82 Hits)
  • Tags
    soothing | minimalist | dream | Leonard Cohen | Dylan | antidote | Tom McRae | Daran | folk

  • To be appreciated too...
    Sophie Zelmani
    Sunrise
        2019

    Crystal clear
      Tamino
    Interview
        2018

    The courage of melancholy
      Tom McRae
    Did I Sleep and Miss the Border
        2015

    Do not sleep, do not miss him


  • Created
    02 June 2017

Back to Top

© 2021 japprecie  -  Contact  -  Links

Well this site has a real tough cookie with a long history of breaking little hearts like the one in me, with functionalities linked to so-called social networks and traffic statistics. Hit me with your best shot.