A year after releasing the best-of compilation
4 Mots and scoring a chart-topping hit single with the
Jean-Jacques Goldman collaboration "4 Mots sur un Piano,"
Patrick Fiori released
Les Choses de la Vie, a collection of film soundtrack favorites sung in French, Italian, and English. The album also includes a couple new songs, "Aurora," co-written by
Fiori himself, and the single "Merci," written by
Goldman. Though the material on
Les Choses de la Vie is too often rote, the album finds the former Notre-Dame de Paris star in a comfortable setting, singing the type of classical crossover material that suits him naturally. Though the Italian- and English-language performances here are rather limited, it's nice to hear
Fiori sing another language than French from time to time. All in all,
Les Choses de la Vie is a pleasant enough album. Like the
4 Mots compilation, it seems intended to hold fans over until the next proper album release by
Fiori, who has gone five years since the release of his Top Five hit album
Si on Chantait Plus Fort (2005). ~ Jason Birchmeier