French singer Christophe Willem is a pretty distinct voice in pop music because, well–let’s not sugarcoat things–he sounds just like a pop princess.
Willem’s voice is really, really high, petite and pleasantly coquettish, which lends itself to some spectacular synth-pop production. In a lot of ways, he’s the French male version of Kylie Minogue (and perhaps a little bit of Britney to boot.) In fact, he even released B’s unused, deeply underrated Blackout-era track “State of Grace” in 2009–retitled “Entre Nous et le Sol.”
After winning the fourth season of Nouvelle Star of France in 2006 (that’s like France’s Idol, FYI), Willem’s gone on to release three studio albums including 2011’s Prismophonic, which was crafted alongside some of the industry’s finest: Kylie music maestro Steve Anderson, Hannah Robinson, Lisa Greene, Biff Stannard, Richard X and Ash Howes, among others. (Essentially, the ultimate pop dream team.)
Accordingly, Prismophonic is all shades of pristine pop, full of lush production and heaven-sent melodies. It’s quite genuinely free of flaw–and the deal just got even sweeter: Two weeks ago, Willem released Love Shot Me Down, the English version of his amazing 2011 record, which is unsurprisingly divine. (And this time, it’s singalong-able!)
For instance, there’s “Timeless.” (Just wait until that post-chorus cry–heart in throat!)
And there’s “When You Dance With Me.”
PopJustice premiered the Richard X remix of “Love Shot Me Down” back in November, which is also amazing. But the track that I really love (and I love, like, all of the songs) is “Jamais Du,” which has been retitled to “Lasers and Sparklers.”
And that’s not all: The sensationally stomp-y, spacey “Tears Will Dry” (originally “Pas Si Lion”) was co-written by none other than the disco diva herself, Miss Kylie Minogue. You see? It’s the Kylie album we’ve never heard.
It was love at first sight–err, play.
Click here for previews of the entire record.
Love Shot Me Down was released on January 14. (iTunes UK)