Romane Chante

Throughout my blog posts I always seem to circle back to the importance I place upon lyrics and lyricism, and so it's no surprise that from time to time I find myself gravitating towards Chanson - or I suspect, more accurately, Nouvelle Chanson. To be honest it's a family of genres that can lead you down a rabbit hole if you're not careful… there's Chanson française and Chanson francophone, not to mention poésie… and while I've yet to stumble upon a definitive definition, I know what I like and I like what I know…

So I'm not sure how I managed to miss Romane's debut EP last year "Je reviens", although in my defence, I should point out it was released on December 25th. So let's consider this a late Christmas present to myself… The EP itself is an all-to-brief collection of songs that tear at the fabric between Chanson and pop. Intrigued, I set out to find more… Thing is, apart from her Bandcamp and Facebook pages, my search of t'interweb kept drawing a blank. So I sat down and wrote an email, to which Romane kindly replied, helping me to colour this post…

Listening to the EP, It's obvious that here is an artist who places a strong emphasis on both her lyrics and their poetic flow, but who also considers how the accompaniment and arrangement can best project her prose. Take for instance the opening track, "Poison". The lyrics reference both "Madame Bovary" (who in Flaubert's novel - spoiler alert - commits suicide by drinking Arsenic) and quotes Tolstoy (from his novel "Anna Karenina" and another flawed heroine who took her own life). However, there's a mysticism to the song's lyrics - is the potion of the song's title merely a metaphorical reference to a toxic relationship from which to plan an escape? And while the words convey an inherent tension - indeed the tone is confrontational - there's an overwhelming feeling of triumphalism as our protagonist plans on leaving on her terms…

And then there's Romane's arrangements. There's a subtle discordance between the melody and stanza - one that not only focuses the emphasis on her words, but also ensures there's rhythmic textures and tone to add colour and clarity to the void between them. It's a style that I remarked upon in my post on Agustina Paz's seriously impressive album "La Fuerza" and her interpretation, along with Cata Raybaud, of "El Tiempo está Después". And then everything comes together on the majestic and soaring chorus - piano, guitar, bandoneon and voice join together in perfect harmony - and all capped by the gorgeous haunting trumpet of the song's middle-eight. As Romane herself explains; with her compositions the lyric and melody fits and weaves in unison, coming together as one; the music amplifying the vitality of the poetry…

An approach which is Romane again demonstrates on "Venez rire et danser". Here piano and voice layer and overlap, as if pushing and pulling against one another; the piano with metronomic precision - listen carefully and you can hear Romane count it in - while the verse is more elastic. The piano paints broad, even brushstrokes upon this musical canvas, the voice adds contrast and pattern. Once more, all these elements synchronise - the piano is joined by the soothing tones of cello and double bass, to add a touch of texture and gravitas - as orchestration and vocals rise and fall as one. Here, Romane crafts a narrative which entices the listener - tantalisingly elongating syllables to accentuate rhyming couplets - into a netherworld of mystic and revelry and dance amidst ebony sarcophagi. The living invited into the shadowy world of the dead and decaying… Haunting rattles echo in the dark recesses… are they the sound of discarded merriment or the ghostly footsteps of the enchained on their final journey

"La poésie est, dans mon travail, fondamentale. Elle est la raison d'être de mes chansons. J'avais des choses à dire et je les écrivais. Un jour je me suis dit : et pourquoi n'pas les chanter ?"

There's a hypnotic quality to "je reviens", the EP's title track. Languid guitar lulls you into a false sense of relaxation while the resonant tones of plucked double bass fills the space behind her honey-soothed rasping voice - itself an instrument - as she accentuates every word, every syllable - creating a distinct rhythm. In fact as Romane describes with her writing style, her texts actually contain a melody in themselves, with the words inscribed with a natural cadence. So rather than just setting her poems to music, she sings them… And as with her previous examples, this musical poetry is again filled with ambiguity - is this a return to face despair or salvation?

The EP's last two tracks see a definite blurring of Romane's poetic prose with heady pop sensibilities. There's a noticeable pick-up in tempo and octave range - with noticeable interval jumps in the harmonisations. However, while both "Libre" and "Au-delà des terres" most definitely stray into pop territory - both are arguably 'pop-songs' - the poetic qualities of the lyrics aren't compromised. Given that as a child growing up in Suresnes, in the western banlieues of Paris, Romane was drawn to poetry (in both its spoken and sung forms) and sang with several choirs, it perhaps isn't surprising that she manages to combine these forms so perfectly.

"Libre" is a beautiful and beautifully constructed pop-song. The song's accompaniment and vocals are in perfect harmony, rising and falling in unison, the natural rhythm being set by the gentle acoustic guitar and piano, as all the while the soothing tones of the bandoneon - warmer and less shrill than it's better-known cousin, the accordion - flits in between these and Romane's dulcet voice. If pushed, I suspect this is my favourite track.

This all-to-short EP closes with "Au-delà des terres". Again, it's a song whose foundation is built upon a simple guitar and piano arrangement - in terms of both rhythm and tempo it's similar to "Libre" - there's a beautifully soothing middle eight, but here the emphasis is on the stanza of the verses, there's hints of the subtle cadence variations so noticeable in the more poetic numbers, and which focuses concentration back to both voice and lyrics…

"Je reviens" is a mini-album that expertly highlights the harmony and balance of poetic lyricism set to sympathetically arranged scores, creating songs which are totally captivating. In her own way, Romane has recorded an album that is every bit as poetic, every bit as mysterious and enchanting as klô Pelgag on her stunning "Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs". To be honest, I'm excited…

Romane.Chante (Facebook)
"je reviens" (Bandcamp)