Oh Do We

Description

Like a craftsman in his workshop, instrument in hand, Manuel Bienvenu visits the “extraordinaireries” of music. The almost metronomic regularity, chance or whim, with which he returns to us every five years does not prevent surprise. New five-year term, new album, new energy. The scholar of jazz-tinged pop (or vice versa) builds, with the fever of the creator and the patience of the philosopher, the soundscapes of a universe full of life, the one he has in Japan in particular, recorded to tape with a rare sense of detail. “oh do we,” as its title indicates, is an open album. This question, without a capital letter or a question mark, is a tribute to that part of English culture where humor, poetry, irony and lyricism intertwine. Three two-letter words that bounce like balls, playing off one another, expressing nothing decided, asserting nothing clear, yet still advocating the certainty of a refined work. In the worthy lineage of its predecessors (“Ananuma” and “Glo” - 2015, 2020), “oh do we” develops a strong harmonic universe where euphony dominates melody. The methodical goldsmith then gives way to the impressionist, this creator who captures spaces, colors, lights and who, from a host of divergent-sounding information, creates a singular landscape. Dare we say... complete? From the swirling “Dark Polychrome” to the complex “Nureta Bara” (which can be translated as “The Soaked Rose” - written by his daughter at the age of 13), via the familiar “Here Comes”, a cover of the band Binoculars, Manuel Bienvenu sails from light to dark, from empty to full, from smooth to rough. The plasticity of music seems to hold no more secrets for him. But it is not enough to look closely at a Monet. Take a step back to see the landscape of “oh do we”; two steps for the triptych begun with “Ananuma” in 2015 to stand before you. The master of time has done his work. This auditory painting was made in the company of regular collaborators (Jean- Michel Pirès, Thierry Chompré, Théo Girard... already on the previous albums) and other figures deeply tied to Manuel Bienvenu’s career (Peggy Courchay, Tomoko Yoshino, Mmm)... In the end, “oh do we” is an album of meaning where harmonies are seen and touched more than they are heard. And when we seem to have grasped the whole picture, the answers lead to new questions.