Indestructible, Renaud resumes his symphonic repertoire in his new album “Dans mes chords”

The title of Renaud’s twentieth studio album is a nice play on words between the diminished state of his vocal cords and an orchestration to which he is not accustomed. The album will be released on December 1, 2023.

Reference to his vocal cords “damaged by years of wandering and alcohol”as Renaud confides, with In my ropes. “I’m rediscovering my songs in a way”, confides Renaud. The singer revisits his repertoire with a symphony orchestra to which he is not accustomed his audience. If the title of the album nods to the criticism aimed at his battered voice, “strangely, I’ve made progress vocally. I don’t sing to perfection – which is what you expect from a great singer – but compared to the Phénix Tour (live album from 2017, Editor’s note)I’ve improved”.

On a diet

And let’s not talk to him about an artificial intelligence (AI) which could have regenerated his voice of yesteryear, as the survivors of the Beatles did recently to bring John Lennon’s timbre out of limbo on a draft of forgotten recording. “AI doesn’t inspire me at all, I’m not into IT. I’m already having trouble managing my cell phone, the computer, I don’t even talk about it”evacuates the author of Morgane de toi, 71 years old.

He confides that he “stopped drinking for three years and cigarettes for eight months”. In an interview, he shoots “a vaporizer” with a fruity scent. In my ropes is also aimed at “with bad intentions” who predicted to him the “chaos in the ropes of a ring” when he returned to the stage in 2023, after six years of absence on stage. “No one bet a cent on my tour, but we extended it”, rejoices the artist. He now begins to dream “a tour in 2025”for his 50 years of recording career.

Directory

In my ropes obviously refers to the two female quartets – violins, viola and cellos – which accompany him on this disc expected this Friday. Rereading his work in 18 pieces, he alternates standards, like Knocked upand lesser known songs like In your bag. This is the first time that the singer has recorded an album with a string orchestra.

Five songs were recorded live in 2023 during his tour, already with this device and also named In my ropes. The others were reworked in the studio, like Manhattan-Kabulwith Noée, a young singer who replaces Axelle Red in the original version.

This song from 2002 is inspired by the attacks of September 11, 2001. Renaud will not dwell on the resonances with current events. “Nothing has really changed, to take what is happening with Israel and Hamas, it has been going on for several decades and it is not about to end”, however, he begins. Before insisting on the “children, always victims” upheavals in the world, which he evokes in several of his songs, such as Dead children.

Indispensable accordion

The album’s orchestration also includes a piano, an acoustic guitar and a double bass. Without forgetting an accordion, “inseparable from my songs, it seems to me“. How did he choose the songs for In my ropes ? It’s a cocktail of his tastes and those of his fans, even if he doesn’t have “don’t always want to go with the public’s mood“. hexagon And In my HLM. are therefore not included in the album. The essential As soon as the wind blows However, it does appear there.

When asked about the cities that inspire him for concerts, the singer cites Lens, immediately branching off to the football matches that he likes to see there within the “best audience in France“. RC Lens fans are known for singing in the stadium The settlements by Pierre Bachelet. “I’m jealous I didn’t manage to write a song like that.”he suddenly blurted out.

Surveyed on football, he confesses to following Marseille, Laval, Saint-Etienne, but also PSG. Does this last club, in the hands of owners from Qatar, not contrast with those with the popular aura mentioned above? The response bursts out: “I like Mbappé, he’s a genius, humble, intelligent, cultured, a model“