- Fun in electronic music isn't always bound to the dance floor; the French especially have been good at adopting a deadpan attitude towards such matters over the past decade, from Miss Kittin and Teki Latex to Mr Oizo and even Daft Punk, via their cartoonish public personas. But only Parisian troubadour and sexed-up, all-around creepo Sébastien Tellier has apparently based his entire career on incarnating a silly character to the point of self-parody. When France submitted Tellier's disco pop track "Divine" as its official entry to 2008's Eurovision contest, it felt like an entire nation was poking fun at absolutely everyone.
Thankfully, though, Tellier is also a gifted and imaginative musician. There is a unique vision underneath all those novelty features. Produced by Ed Banger alumni Mr Flash (minus the abrasiveness you'd expect), My God Is Blue is Tellier's latest long-player. The album thankfully reproduces the same craftsmanship he displayed on Sexuality back in 2008, its overall joyous and carefree tone. My God Is Blue's songs are either wry serene or wry pompous, sometimes alternatively, but always kaleidoscopic. Take the enchanting "Magical Hurricane": at first, it channels both Tim Buckley and Linda Perhacs' "If You Were My Man" with its folky charms and piano-led melody, then a celestial church organ brings the song to an over-the-top climatic release. That very instrument abounds throughout, like on album closer "Yes, It's Possible." Its unscripted organ intro gives way to an interminable guitar solo that is both farcical and ballsy. On "My Poseidon," Tellier delivers a strangely rousing arm-waving chorus, and "Russian Attractions" (with an introductory synth line that somehow recalls "Survivor" by Destiny's Child) makes the same use of elaborate vocal arrangements to colorful effect.
"Mayday" might opt for a simpler, almost anemic Casio beatbox, but all you remember it for is as a touching Burt Bacharach pastiche. On the more upbeat side, "Against the Law" blends seedy disco undertones with dramatic and comical content until a galloping synthesizer brings everything to a descending, calming coda. First single "Cochon Ville" gets its inspiration from the controversial Raëlian movement and turns it into a twisted ode to orgiastic impulses. In all cases Tellier remains very, very entertaining. His music might evoke trends, but he himself doesn't sound—or look—like anyone else. Since his entire branding is based on this very idiosyncrasy, you can't really reproach him for cultivating it. For many, it was going to be hard for Tellier to surpass Sexuality's sensuous odyssey. Thankfully, My God Is Blue does at least equal it.
Tracklist 01. Pepito Bleu
02. The Colour of Your Mind
03. Sedulous
04. Cochon Ville
05. Magical Hurricane
06. Russian Attractions
07. Mayday
08. Draw Your World
09. My Poseidon
10. Against the Law
11. My God Is Blue
12. Yes It's Possible