Mylène Farmer is French pop royalty.
If you’re not familiar with her work, that’s okay! Like Kylie Minogue or Utada Hikaru, sometimes superstardom exists mostly at home…or strictly amongst the gays.
Just know that Mylène’s sometimes referred to as “the Madonna of France,” at least in terms of her iconic legacy. She’s been in the game for nearly 30 years, and almost every album she’s released since her 1986 debut has gone straight to #1. Want a crash course? Try “Désenchantée,” “Les Mots,” “C’est dans l’air,” “Fuck Them All,” or her recent foray onto the dance floor with RedOne, “Oui mais… non.” Her gorgeous half-French, half-English duet with Moby from about a decade ago, “Slipping Away (Crier La Vie),” is also a major personal favorite.
Anyway, Mylène’s just reemerged with her first new single in two years called “Stolen Car,” a duet with another industry veteran: Sting. And in fact, it’s a completely redone version of Sting’s 2004 single about a joyride in a stolen car and an imagined affair, “Stolen Car (Take Me Dancing).”
This “Stolen Car” only just barely sounds like the original song, however. Crafted by The Avener, the song’s been thoroughly reinvented into a lush and intoxicating production, drenched in synths and strings for a sexy, dramatic modern makeover. Mylène serves seductive coos in French throughout, while Sting supplies his usual brand of yearning. It’s adult-pop done right, basically.
I’ve got a very limited grasp on what Mylène is singing about (apart from her clear desire for a dance floor this evening), but it seems like she’s singing from the perspective of the mistress in the song. La controverse!
Also, this is a well-timed find to awaken my inner Francophile before my first-ever trek to Montreal for opening night(s) of Madonna‘s Rebel Heart Tour in two weeks. I still have to figure out how to say “Yeezus loves my pussy best” in French, though…
“Stolen Car” was released in November of 2015. (iTunes)
