Vanille

Back in 2017, Montréal trio Vanille - the project of singer-songwriter-composer Rachel Leblanc - released their debut EP "My grandfather thinks I'm going to hell", a primarily English-language outing whose foundations were built upon a mélange of 80s / 90s indie-pop; a raw garage-rock attitude, grungy guitars, a little bit of jingle-jangle, a swish of swirling synths and wispy vocals; with everything being given a flat, matte lo-fi finish… To be honest, the EP was in my Wishlist for quite a while, as a placeholder for the album that I was sure was going to follow… and so I waited, and waited… and…

Three and a bit years later and the wait is over as Rachel and Vanille returns - this time as a solo-project - with a long-awaited debut - et cent-pour-cent chanté en français - album. Again, 80s and 90s indie-pop themes and sensibilities are to the fore, but here they're liberally finished with a melodic 60s pop sheen, adding a lush dream-pop polish to an album of bitter-sweet songs that reminisce about love; lost, found, good and gone bad. As Rachel admits, many of the songs are based on her own experiences growing up in Laval, QC and several were actually written around the time of the debut EP. However, with "Soleil '96" Rachel and producer Emmanuel Éthier (of Québec rockers Chocolat) have crafted a far more focused and nuanced - indeed a more confident - style and sound…

The album opens with "Carte du ciel", a dreamy indie-pop tune tinged with melancholy and lost love. It's also sets the direction and theme of the entire album; a return to the time of jingle-jangle indie-pop, Twee and C86; of record labels such as Sarah - indeed if Sarah Records had ever had a French-Language Imprint, this would be just the type of album they'd release - and the retrospective indie-pop released by Madrid's Elefant. This is an album that recalls the languid style of The Sundays (although I'm not sure Harriet Wheeler ever sung in French - but if she did…) and all those bands who sang songs that made you sigh…

"Les tempêtes" harks back to first love with a more reflective outlook and slower-tempo. Here, Rachel's wistful vocals and the most glorious of refrains ebb and flow atop jangly guitars and gentle percussion. However, it's "Fleur" which really demonstrates the comparative ease as to how Rachel manages to infuse jingle-jangle indie-pop with the lush vocal stylisation of 60s French pop. Gosh, this song is so airy and dreamy, but with a twist - the delightful melodies and harmonious vocals belie the song's dark and disturbing lyrics.

"Nouvelle vague" ups the pace, opening with a beat built upon garage-rock and guitars - both of which were a feature of the earlier EP - but here there's layers of added refinement. Again there's a distinctive 60s feel to the vocals and orchestration, not to mention a seriously gorgeous soaring refrain thrown in for good measure. It another demonstration of how this album's mixing of 60s style alongside 90s sensibilities sounds soright in the 21st century…

If I were pushed to pick a favourite song, I'd have to say, "L'été bleu". This is just - wow - a great indie-pop song. There's an early 80s post-punk vibe going on here - from a time when bands started emerging back into the light - the guitars and repetitive melody are totally addictive and hypnotic, there's an alluring yet disconcerting familiarity - which I can't quite put my finger on - while Rachel's vocals don't so much float as have an out-of-body experience… I'm already hooked, but then halfway through there's a seriously surprising change of tempo as the guitars pick-up on the Postcard-infused middle-eight, before being re-joined by Rachel's vocals and soaring synths… Seriously, this song could be my drug of choice…

Reverbed guitars feature on "Si je pleure", as Rachel's heartfelt vocals cry of unrequited love. The song adds a beautifully haunting and 60s hued middle-eight… I suspect I need to trawl through Rachel's and Emmanuel's record collections as there's again that warming feeling of familiarity. Seriously, what's not to like here?

But if lilting indie-pop, gentle jangly guitars and fragile vocals conveying the fear and sorrow of parting are your thing, then checkout "Solstice". It's another song which could be lifted straight from the Twee / Sarah Records playbook… And in an album littered with memorable and innovative middle-eights, this probably tops the lot as soft metronomic bass accompanies Rachel's note-perfect and nerve-tingling vocals, before percussion and swirling synths build to end…

This album's penultimate track "Phonème" is a version of the song which originally featured on the EP. But whereas the original was very much in keeping with that record's lo-fi veneer, with the washed-out vocals fighting to be heard above the mix, this version feels like the finished product. The guitars sound bright, there's a depth and texture to the percussion and synths, and Rachel's voice is rightly promoted centre-stage. It's another song where the dreamy jangle pop melodies disguise the song's bitter-sweet lyrics.

So if the trick of any good album is to leave the listener wanting more, the closing number "Les jours manqués" fits that bill completely. It's deliciously down-tempo without ever feeling maudlin. It's a song of reflection and to be honest yet another song which causes my mind to wander-off into the recesses of my record collection… If nothing else it a song that makes you want to hit repeat and replay the whole album…

In an interview, Rachel talks of her influences; not only the French pop (of les annèes soixante) of Françoise Hardy and France Gall, but also the diversity musical styles and genres. Psychedelic rock and fuzzy guitars are both mentioned, alongside a style she refers to as 'psych-medieval', with everything being added to a huge melting pot. To that melting pot has been added a generous measure of C86, Twee and dream-pop as this is an album which not only celebrates jingle-jangle pop, but is also the album that earlier EP would have been, had it been released this now. This is an album from a rapidly maturing artist who has found both her feet and style, writing the songs she want to write (in the language she wants to write them) and in the style she wants them performed. Sure, this is also an album that sounds reassuringly familiar (then again, as a La Féline's Agnès Gayraud would suggest; "Moderne, c'est déjà vieux…"), but if you wanted an introduction to dreamy guitar and synth indie-pop à la française, this is as good a place to start as any.

Ultimately, "Soleil '96" is an album of gorgeous indie-pop tunes, all tinged in melancholia and sung in French. It's also my first great album of the year… 'Nuff said.

"Soleil '96" (Bandcamp)