There is a beach in our ears, we can almost hear the birds calling in the blue sky. The sand is warm and it smells like sunscreen. But the heart is elsewhere, probably thousands of kilometers away, tormented by distance, solitude, goodbyes and doubts. This is the decor woven throughout the 10 new songs by Aliocha Schneider, who offers with this third disc a first dive into the sea of French-speaking music.
Since his first album, Eleven Songs, published in 2017, Alyosha only used his first name for his musical project. Now the artist, also an actor, regains possession of his surname, even giving his full name to this opus, soberly titled Alyosha Schneider. On the other side of the screen, in his Parisian apartment, the young man, who has just turned 30, is laughing in anticipation just thinking about what he is about to say. “I’m sure I’ve said that about previous albums too, but it shows that this is my most personal album! he assures. That’s right, it’s my process. At my 12e album also, I hope I would say that it’s my most personal album. »
Many of his new pieces were in fact born in 2021, a year during which Alyosha spent long months in Greece during two separate shoots, for the film Musicby Angela Schanelec, and for the series Greek salad, by Cédric Klapisch. The Franco-Canadian is certainly not trying to be pitying, the work was pleasant and day-to-day life “wasn’t really disgusting”, but all those who travel like this know that distance creates complex feelings – which cross the titles of this disc.
“At the same time I was far from my family, I was far from my girlfriend, far from the people I love, but I was still in a quite wonderful context. Except that I couldn’t be totally in the moment because my life was waiting for me elsewhere,” notes Alyosha, in a relationship with pop singer Charlotte Cardin, who, as a star, also has the unfortunate habit of leaving long periods on tour.
The piece that perhaps best sums up the mixed emotions that such situations arouse is Together, located in the heart of the disc. “What does it mean to be together / if we’re not together?” / Is it enough to wait? / […] Memory is short / summer is cruel / and the girls are beautiful,” he says.
This finale, an admitted nod to Jean Leloup, is not a matter of loyalty, maintains Alyocha. “It’s a matter of keeping the connections to things that are maybe deeper in fact, and then ultimately thinking about the long term. »
The tall musician with blond curls lets a few seconds of reflection pass. Then he gives the example of Barbara’s song Tell me, when will you come back ?. “It’s definitely a love song. She says “I want to be with you”, but she also says “if you don’t understand that you have to come back, I will go and warm myself in another sun”, he paraphrases. You know: “I’m not one of those who die of grief and I don’t have the virtue of sailors’ wives”, that’s extraordinary. It was this complexity that interested me. »
French and warmth
The idea of writing in French was born from a pandemic attempt by Alyosha, who translated his play Forget My Bluesbecome It’s all, it’s nothing. The exercise was “a revelation” for him, and led to his new songs, almost all in the language of Molière. The singer still teamed up for the lyrics with Marc-André Gilbert (Charlotte Cardin, Milk & Bone, Ariane Moffatt), who also produced the record.
Co-writing proved to be very stimulating and inspiring, breaking for Alyosha the weight of the solitude of creation. “And he also pushed me not to avoid myself, to get into trouble somewhere, to really talk about myself, about my feelings. To go as raw as possible. At its most real. Every time I tried a little to do literature, so to speak, it was a no. »
And for Alyocha, there was also a balance to find between his Quebec and French identities, between which he really straddles. “I’m on a line that I like, that resembles me,” he says. I tried to avoid overly typical expressions. I’m not saying “so”, but I’m not saying a purely Quebecois expression either. »
The studio work with Marc-André Gilbert also revolved a lot around the sonic identity of this record, inspired by the warmth of Greece, a certain slowness, not to say languor. A good part of these vibrations come from the percussions, almost Latin, swaying.
The other strong point of the songs is the use of “great sounding” acoustic guitars. dry, with a lot of proximity,” notes Schneider, who offers beautiful melodic lines on the instrument. He gets up and goes to get a Martin from 1949, “an 00-17, it’s the model of Bob Dylan’s first guitar”, a strong inspiration for Alyosha. “And then we also played quite a bit on a little Epiphone Parlor at Jesse Mac Cormack’s studio. He had to pay her $50. It sounded all broken, all broken, but we really enjoyed it. » The kind of instrument you carry around on your shoulder when traveling, that is.
By their nature, Aliocha Schneider’s pieces risk reaching new ears, especially since they are published in France by Local, a label managed by the veteran and renowned Philippe Ascoli (Phoenix) and associated with the well-known family. rooted in label Sooner or later. Alyosha hesitates to talk about ambitions for success, which are not the driving force of his project and which he associates in a certain way with a lack of modesty.
But still. “Philippe Ascoli told me that in the mainstream, a proposal like mine, in French, does not exist in France, and he believes that I can take this place. I never saw myself as an artist mainstream. But having someone like him say that makes me say, “Why not?” » Especially since his better half can pass him a note.
“We don’t have the same career, we’re not the same person. But it’s inspiring to see Charlotte go, and it’s certain that when someone close to you does great things, things seem more possible. » All he has to do is slip through.