If Lou Christie was French. This perfect French pop EP is Michel Poinareff at his height, creatively speaking. Polnareff has the tendency to go over-the-top, in that I suspect his life was one of the great lows and intense highs. "Ame Caline", the opening song of this EP, is a piano ballad, but sweeping strings, and Polnareff's Lou Christie-like high voice coming in, as a wave hits the beach. Compared to other French pop at the time there is a bite and a greater music scope or landscape in his work. A lot of his early work is an odd combination of garage rock meets grandeur arrangements. "Le Roi des Fourmis" has a lot of percussion, a prominent organ, and is beautifully arranged into a wall of sound.
Beside this EP, I have a greatest hits collection that I purchased in Fukuoka Japan. Again, it's not hard to locate Polareff in Japan, it seems he's a well-known figure there compared to the United States, which is not the easiest place to find his recordings (although, not impossible). Since I don't read French, I'm sure there's information about him that is missed between the languages. Still, I suspect that he's a very unique figure in the French pop world. He writes his material, and I sense no one controls his output except himself.
There are four songs on this EP, besides the two mentioned already there's "Fat Madame" sung in English and co-written by Ray Singer, who worked with the British band Nirvana. An excellent track which weirdly reminds me of Cockney Rebel. Or if Steve Harley meets Peter Noone of Herman Hermits fame. The last track "Le Saule Pleureur" is a sonic soup of various ingredients. A mixture of flute, unique backup vocal, - in 1967, it was a great year for experimentation in the pop format, and I think Polnareff was very much part of that world.
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