Sebastien Tellier: “La Ritournelle”
Never has simplistic repetition sounded better than on Sebastien Tellier’s “La Ritournelle”. The song was first brought to our attention after the posting of our top songs of 2005 list, when a reader notified us of the glaring omission of this phenomenally lush electronica piece courtesy of the French Tellier. The song clocks in at slightly over seven and a half minutes, and the vocals don’t kick in until past the halfway mark, but it’s the stunning four minute intro that holds much of the beauty of this masterpiece. The same drum loop persists throughout the song, carried by the simple but gorgeous melody courtesy of a piano. The differentiation lies in the beautiful strings that layer the background and occasionally creep in to the forefront for deserved attention. The vocals only occupy a minute of the song, and though they do add another dimension while they’re there and are certainly pretty, “La Ritournelle” is better in the instrumental moments.
Unfortunately, if Tellier is trying to break in to the American marker, he’s starting with a few strikes against him from a music marketing standpoint. The mellow nature of the track keeps it off the dancefloors of American clubs, and the lengthy running time will inhibit it’s successes across the pond, in the nation where attention spans are limited to, on average, eight seconds. French electronica artists have had their share of success in the U.S. (see: Daft Punk, Air [a band Tellier has opened for in concert], Telepopmusik), but projecting commercial success for Tellier is somewhat presumptuous; If Tellier can follow Air’s lead and get tapped to make a movie soundtrack, that may be the break he needs. It launched Air’s success in the U.S., and it (sort of) worked for Explosions in the Sky. Regardless of whether “La Ritournelle” sees the success it deserves, it is a fantastic track. As we in the blogosphere know, commercial success and musical quality do not go hand in hand (just ask James Blunt), and nobody can dispute the beauty of “La Ritournelle”.
Fortunately for those of us Americans sharing in the national attention deficit, the b-side comes packed with excellent remixes aplenty, courtesy of Mr. Dan and Metronomy. Mr. Dan’s Magic Wand Remix is almost less of a remix and more of a single edit, as it cuts the song down from its seven and a half minute run time to a much more managable three and a half minutes, and loops the vocals throughout the entire song, increasing the track’s immediacy and accessibility tenfold. On top of all that, he adds a beautiful xylophone riff - his only major new contribution to the mix - to the instrumentation, taking the remix to a level that nearly surpasses the original, though the two can’t really be compared. Metronomy takes a different route altogether, synthesizing all of the original instrumentation, doing away with those beautiful strings (but making up for it with catchy booms and bips), and speeding up the vocals, which are again looped throughout the entire track.
MP3s:
“La Ritournelle” - Sebastien Tellier ((highly recommended))
“La Ritournelle” (Mr. Dan’s Magic Wand Remix) - Sebastien Tellier
“La Ritournelle” (Metronomy Remix) - Sebastien Tellier
[Click here to purchase from Rough Trade]