Anyone who has ever walked along Marseille’s famous “Ledge of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy” will know that feeling of being caught between the beautiful Mediterranean sea, stretching out to what seems like infinity, and the bustle of cars on the boulevard. It was on a scooter ride along that same road that the fifth album by Kid Francescoli (a.k.a. Mathieu Hocine) was born, for it was at that very moment that he left behind the tumultuous relationship with his former muse Julia Minkin to find musical love with a new artist: the French/Brazilian Samantha. Her fragile, soft voice blends in perfectly to the swaying rhythms and sensual harmonies of the album’s single Eu Quero, as well as on Ces Deux-là and O Sol. Three other female singers also join the duo: Sarah Rebecca (who has previously collaborated with French 79) on Miss Mess and The Only One; Italian-Moroccan Nassee on Alive and City Lights; and Alizée, a.k.a. iOni, on Cent Corps and So Over.
Despite the different vocal personalities that pervade Lovers, not to mention all the different languages (French, English and Portuguese), the album is undeniably cohesive. All these differences fuse together like a kind of Mediterranean “Map of Tendre”, revealing a succession of songs which give pride of place to sensuality and sunshine. It’s a bit like a musical version of Abdellatif Kechiche’s cinema (particularly the film Mektoub, My Love, shot not far from the Ledge). The producer French 79 highlights Kid Francescoli’s new-found serenity, notably in the entrancing track The Only One and the ethereal instrumental track entitled Lovedrops. © Nicolas Magenham/Qobuz