Mélopée, by Ezechiel Pailhès

Mélopée

by Ezechiel Pailhès

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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Tracklist CD:
01. Dors-tu ? - 02. Regard en arrière - 03. Mélopée - 04. L’attente - 05. Elégie - 06. Prélude - 07. La fille de la nuit - 08. Ni toi, ni moi - 09. Le beau jour - 10. Opaline - 11. Tant que mes yeux

Includes unlimited streaming of Mélopée via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Tracklist LP:
A1. Dors-tu ? - A2. Regard en arrière - A3. Mélopée - A4. L’attente - A5. Elégie - B1. Prélude - B2. La fille de la nuit - B3. Ni toi, ni moi - B4. Le beau jour - B5. Opaline - B6. Tant que mes yeux

Includes unlimited streaming of Mélopée via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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4 remaining

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1.	Dors-tu ? 02:57		buy track
2.	Regard en arrière 04:14		buy track
3.	Mélopée 03:49	lyrics	buy track
Parle-moi, de ta voix pareille à l’eau courante, Lorsque s’est ralenti le souffle des aveux. Dis-moi des mots railleurs et cruels si tu veux, Mais berce-moi de la mélopée enivrante. De ce timbre voilé qui m’attriste et m’enchante, Lorsque mon front s’égare en tes vagues cheveux, Exprime tes espoirs, tes regrets et tes vœux, O mon harmonieuse et musicale amante ! Ta forme est un éclair Ton sourire est l’instant Tu fuis, lorsque l’appel T’implore, ô mon Désir ! Ta forme est un éclair qui laisse les bras vides, Ton sourire est l’instant que l’on ne peut saisir… Tu fuis, lorsque l’appel de mes lèvres avides T’implore, ô mon Désir ! Tu frôles sans étreindre, ainsi que la Chimère Vers qui tendent toujours tes vœux inapaisés… Rien ne vaut ce tourment ni cette extase amère De tes rares baisers ! Et moi, j’écouterai ta voix et son doux chant. Je ne comprendrai plus, j’écouterai, cherchant, Sinon l’entier oubli, du moins la somnolence. Car si tu t’arrêtais, ne fût-ce qu’un moment, J’entendrais… j’entendrais au profond du silence Quelque chose d’affreux qui pleure horriblement. Exprime tes espoirs, tes regrets et tes vœux, Mais berce-moi de la mélopée enivrante. Ta forme est un éclair qui laisse les bras vides, Ton sourire est l’instant que l’on ne peut saisir Tu fuis, lorsque l’appel de mes lèvres avides T’implore, ô mon Désir !
4.	L'attente 03:43	lyrics	buy track
J'ai froid dans mes cheveux ; ma vie est oppressée, Et ton nom, tout à coup, s'échappe de mon cœur. Quand je ne te vois pas, le temps m'accable, et l'heure A je ne sais quel poids impossible à porter : Je sens languir mon cœur, qui cherche à me quitter ; Et ma tête se penche, et je souffre et je pleure. Quand ta voix saisissante atteint mon souvenir, Je tressaille, j'écoute... et j'espère immobile ; Et l'on dirait que Dieu touche un roseau débile ; Et moi, tout moi répond : Dieu ! faites-le venir ! J'ai froid dans mes cheveux ; ma vie est oppressée, Et ton nom, tout à coup, s'échappe de mon cœur. Quand c'est toi-même, enfin ! quand j'ai cessé d'attendre, Tremblante, je me sauve en te tendant les bras ; Je n'ose te parler, et j'ai peur de t'entendre ; Mais tu cherches mon âme, et toi seul l'obtiendras ! Suis-je une sœur tardive à tes vœux accordée ? Es-tu l'ombre promise à mes timides pas ? Mais je me sens frémir. Moi, ta sœur ! quelle idée ! Toi, mon frère ! ... ô terreur ! Dis que tu ne l'es pas ! J'ai froid dans mes cheveux ; ma vie est oppressée, Et ton nom, tout à coup, s'échappe de mon cœur.
5.	Élégie 03:33		buy track
6.	Prélude 00:48		buy track
7.	La fille de la nuit 03:12		buy track
8.	Ni toi, ni moi 03:28		buy track
9.	Le beau jour 03:04		buy track
10.	Opaline 03:47		buy track
11.	Tant que mes yeux 04:14		buy track

about

On his fourth solo album, much as in Oh! (2020), the French composer, pianist and vocalist follows his ongoing exploration of the crossroads between poetry and songs, piano and synth, old-time verses and contemporary sounds. Inspired by the rhythms, effects and speech patterns of urban music, he also delivers, with a warm and moving voice, the texts of three poetesses from the past.

Since 2013, Ezéchiel Pailhès has been crafting a unique French synth pop. On his first three albums, he switched between songs inspired by poetry, instrumental ballads and electronica with hummed choruses. This latest record is a collection of eleven new songs, two of which he wrote: "Opaline" and "Ni toi, ni moi" (neither you nor me). The others are adaptations of poems written in the 16th, 18th and 19th centuries by French poetesses Louise Labé (1524-1566), Marceline Desbordes-Valmore (1786-1859) and Renée Vivien (1877-1909).

From classical music to songs, poetry adaptation is an old French tradition. "My universe has always embraced the musicality of this literary genre," the artist recalls. He actually started this project in 2017 with poems and sonnets by William Shakespeare, Pablo Neruda, Victor Hugo and above all Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, who can be heard again on songs such as "Dors-tu?" (Are you sleeping?), "Élégie" or "L'attente" (The wait). A figure of romanticism, the author left her mark on the early 19th century through the quality of her texts and her formal inventions, particularly praised by Balzac, and apparently a decisive influence on Verlaine and Baudelaire. "Marceline's poetry is very musical," says Ezéchiel admiringly. "Her use of rhythm and repetition sounds great and takes on a new perspective when set to music. In fact, she wrote some of her texts with singing in mind.”

“Ces longs secrets dont l'amour nous accuse,
Viens-tu les rompre en songe à mes genoux ?
Dors-tu, ma vie ! ou rêves-tu de moi ?”

“These long secrets for which love accuses us,
Do you come to my knees to break them in a dream?
Are you sleeping, my life! or do you dream of me”

(“Dors-tu ?”, after “Les pleurs” (the tears), 1833)

Besides her, we find the more famous, and rebellious, Renée Vivien, whose texts inspired three songs, "Regard en arrière" (Looking backwards), "Mélopée" (Melopoeia) and "La fille de la nuit" (The night girl). Sometimes nicknamed "Sapho 1900", this figure of lesbian culture and, more broadly, of female genius, combined in her work the themes of desire, dreams, melancholy and the relationship with nature.

“Ta forme est un éclair
Ton sourire est l’instant
Tu fuis, lorsque l’appel
T’implore, ô mon Désir !”

"Your shape is a spark of lightning
Your smile, the very moment
You flee, when the calling
Begs you, O my Desire!"

(After “Parle-moi, de ta voix pareille à l’eau courante” (Speak to me, with a voice like flowing waters)
and “Ta forme est un éclair” (Your shape is a spark of lightning), Renée Vivien, 1901)

Lastly, with "Tant que mes yeux" (As long as my eyes), Ezéchiel was inspired by a 1555 poem by Renaissance poet Louise Labé, whose main topic explored female love, physical and spiritual desire, and the torments and pains they generate.

" At the start of the project ", Ezéchiel continues, " I was interested in many poets, men and women, past and present, before my selection was narrowed down to these three female authors. Their works, often written in difficult or secret conditions, express a raging romanticism, a passionate soul, fuelled by desperate and tormented love. I found it interesting, as a man coming from another world and time, to face this otherness, to trade viewpoints. Obviously, I could loudly claim that the album was the result of a concept, that it reflects today's world, and that it allows me to explore the notion of gender, giving visibility to the work of a few women, while at the same time pairing these ancient texts with a more modern and rhythmic music, and obviously, there is some truth in that. But more than anything, I wanted to serve the text itself, to express the emotion and connection I felt with these works.”

Ezéchiel Pailhès combines texts from French literature with electronic music, its effects and rhythms, as well as a form of scansion that echoes rap, R&B or the current fusion between hip hop and pop, which is part of our musical background and that of younger generations. "I wanted to cross-reference texts from the beginning of the century with this type of music. I wanted to use today’s techniques to tell the tale of different daily lives and experiences.

The album is thus marked by contemporary electronic orchestrations, in which he drops his favourite instrument, the piano, and his digital collage technique to use more extensive synth melodies, enhanced by drum machines, bringing a gentle and bright vibe to the romantic texts. Lastly, we can hear slight digital tones of Auto-Tune, which Ezéchiel uses sparingly and inventively.

Beyond its sophistication, the term "melopoeia" means a "sung declamation", a "recitative song", sometimes interpreted in a monotonous way. On this album, it could also refer to a sense of phrasing, which does not come from rap, but rather from jazz, Ezéchiel's first love. " In the past, I tried to hide my jazz culture, but it naturally came back on this new album, as can be heard, for instance, in Regard en arrière.” With its verses anchored in our literary memory, the following track "Mélopée", perfectly illustrates the album's vision. It manages to transcend eras, mixing past romanticism with a modern prosody, fuelled by the nonchalance of hip hop and the warm chords of jazz.

“Qu’un hasard guide enfin mon désespoir tranquille
Vers l’eau d’une oasis ou les berges d’une île,
Où je puisse dormir, mon voyage accompli,
Dans la sécurité profonde de l’oubli”

"May chance guide my quiet sorrow, at last
To the water of an oasis, the shores of an island,
Where I may sleep, having traveled my way,
In the safe depths of oblivion".
(After “Sillages” (Trails), René Vivien, 1908)

credits

released October 7, 2022

Composé, arrangé et interprété par Ezéchiel Pailhès
Édité par Circus Company Publishing
Basse sur Regard en arrière, Mélopée et La fille de la nuit par Thibault Frisoni
Mixé par Stéphane ‘Alf’ Briat au Bleep Studio, Paris
Masterisé par Matt Colton à Metropolis Mastering, Londres
Production exécutive par Mathias Duchemin

Illustration par Alice Sfintesco
Graphisme par République Studio
Typographie manuscrite par Léonard Butler

(p) & © Circus Company 2022
CCCD022 / CCS123 - All rights reserved.
www.circuscompany.fr

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about

Ezechiel Pailhès Paris, France

For a long time Ezéchiel Pailhès worked on creating what became his first solo album and he released in 2013 : Divine his first solo album which was a great success, especially the song 'Matin' which was playlisted on Radio Nova and France Inter.
His second solo album Tout va bien was released in April 2017.
His 3rd album Oh ! was released on May 15th 2020.
New album "Mélopée" OUT Oct 7 2022 ... more

discography

Ventas Rumba

May 2024
Mélopée

Oct 2022
Oh ! Remixes

Jul 2020
Oh !

May 2020
Tout va bien

Jul 2017
Divine

Mar 2012

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