{"product_id":"mendelson_le-dernier-album-vinyle_2021_lad","title":"LE DERNIER ALBUM (vinyle)","description":"In the history of music, a band usually dies due to internal dissension, lack of success, wear and tear, or simply exhaustion. The end is rarely planned, however. Nothing of the sort here. For everything to be perfect, Mendelson’s end had to be written as an integral part of its story. There are no known examples of artists staging their own demise, of other bands singing their own auto-requiem in a kind of funereal concept album. The seventh album will therefore also be the last. Five tracks, then, for a farewell, to take stock of these twenty-five years of songs and creations. Let us present this group one last time, once again renewed, revitalized. Pascal Bouaziz, of course, on vocals and guitar, still accompanied by the very faithful Pierre-Yves Louis, a more brilliant guitarist than ever, and the two drummers, pillars of Mendelson’s masterful sound, Sylvain Joasson and Jean-Michel Pires. They are joined for the occasion by old friend and companion Quentin Rollet, on saxophone, and new recruits Jean-Baptiste Julien, on keyboards, and Nicolas Crosse, eminent double bass player of the Ensemble Intercontemporain (nothing less!). All of them reject demonstrative chatter and aim for refinement, for the elegant precision of a breath. As an opening, the song 'Le dernier disque' (The Last Record) serves as a manifesto, a stark declaration of non-receipt: \"Mendelson, obscure band, unknown, mythical, cult; My ass!\" It sets the tone: \"Mendelson will never sing again.\" 'Les chanteurs' (The Singers) weaves a bitter and caustic, but also strangely peaceful, autobiography. This text, without bitterness, pays tribute to these fellow travelers, other singers, with overwhelming talent who also did not quite find their audience. 'L'héritage' (The Heritage) which follows is unsettling in a different way. This time it is a father speaking to his son. He bequeaths everything to him. Which is to say, nothing. Faded dreams of success, 'sand,' old vanished castles in Spain, 'shredded books, a few silent songs at SACEM'... 'La dernière chanson' (The Last Song), which obviously closes the album, will be the final punctuation of an exemplary discography. Mendelson's swan song. Over a hundred songs to their credit, and Bouaziz goes back in time, to the very first steps of the band, and remembers. Retraces the journey. And closes the book. No song had yet told this, the life and death of a band, and told it like this – even the simplest life is still a destiny. It is truly when Bouaziz tells his own story, as in his most celebrated song, '1983 (Barbara)', that he reaches the heights. And then, finally, there is the album's second track. 'Algérie' (Algeria), which is almost twenty minutes long. One of those sprawling songs that the band is known for. Undoubtedly the masterpiece of this final album, a disturbing final blow where Pascal Bouaziz manages to blend the very political theme of the previous album with the most intimate discourse of a profound nostalgia. An unconfessable, troubled, provocative nostalgia. As he himself sings: \"Is it strange to be nostalgic for a country one has not known, or is it normal? Is it strange to be nostalgic for a country that has precisely disappeared, or is it normal?\" How will this great love song for Algeria, the country of Pascal Bouaziz's Jewish ancestors, be received there? How will this song of hope for a dreamt-of reconciliation be understood? A song where the author reveals himself as never before – fractured between so many multiple identities. A provocative song perhaps, sometimes, but a song for all: for the struggling Algerian people, for exiled Jews, a song for the Harkis too, and a song for all their descendants. A song for all those whose memory is still and always wounded. Finally, a love song for the music and singers of Algeria: Idir, Ferhat, Matoub, Chaou... The relief of the final moments of this cathartic monument is commensurate with the ordeal overcome. Ultimately, what legacy will Mendelson leave us? Bouaziz claims \"to no longer really believe in posterity\"; he sings it almost relieved in his \"last song.\" We will allow ourselves to contradict him. Such an artistic achievement, so integral and exemplary, enduring over time: there are few, very few, like it. And the fact that this story finds such a clear conclusion with this last album only strengthens our conviction. What, ultimately, does Mendelson leave us? These few small things, after all – nothing but songs, which simply, over these twenty-five years, will have made us more human.","brand":"Mendelson","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55310270071128,"sku":null,"price":20211112.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0898\/4943\/0360\/files\/3521381568233_b88f3cf9-4266-4fe8-a8e5-73ba6e26e940.jpg?v=1760318177","url":"https:\/\/vinyles.com\/en\/products\/mendelson_le-dernier-album-vinyle_2021_lad","provider":"Vinyles.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}