Pivotal French artist Sebastian Tellier is a well-connected man. Mixing it amongst the landscape of French pop ever since his days touring with Air, he’s also previously been produced by Daft Punk’s Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, Mr Oizo and DJ SebastiAn and represented France at Eurovision.
For his sixth album, the cast is typically studded with talent with members of Phoenix lending a bass-picking hand and all-star producer Philippe Zdar (Phoenix, Cat Power and Beastie Boys) on mixing duties.
Tellier’s most famous moment so far has been 2005’s “La Ritournelle”, aided by an ingenious string arrangement from Emmanuel d’Orlando and remix treatments from a succession of big names. The song has become a cult classic. D’Orlando is back on board this time and his presence is notable.
‘Confection’ is largely a collection of short instrumentals. It could be a combination of about three film soundtracks, spliced together and shuffled across an album. Of these snapshots, some are piano-led and fully orchestrated, some have Spanish guitars and a contribution from Tony Allen’s stuttering drums; the sort of which drive along many a Fela Kuti jam. The final song “Le Delta Des Amours” sounds like it’s soundtracking scenes of a romantic western in which the protagonist is torn apart from his love.
Occasionally, the swathes of cinematic strings are joined by something more contemporary. The whirrings of “Hypnose” indicate a more modern, French influence; that of Daft Punk.
Only really on “The Waltz” is the consistency broken. Aptly it’s a waltz, though one played on the inside of a surrealistic computer game. Quite out of place on a largely classical LP.
And there is an exception to these instrumental pieces called “L’amour Naissant”; which does again have later instrumental variants. Its this song with its stab and swirl of strings and cascading piano line that recalls “La Ritournelle”. This is again thanks to the marked contribution of d’Orlando and Allen.
‘Confection’is said to be an album close to Tellier’s soul. He certainly has brought together his outlandish talents and those of his friends to deliver a sublimely produced album. Not recommended for those seeking a pop hook, it is however recommended for those wishing to drift away and bring visuals to these filmic scores.
7/10
By Matthew Nicholson
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