A number of Australian musicians and bands are getting to indulge their inner Francophile. Qu’est-ce que c’est? Well, a new compilation album, entitled Mélodie Française is due before the end of the year, featuring a host of homegrown talent tackling vintage Gallic classics as well as contemporary French music.
Mélodie Française is also a clever initiative between label Original Matters, who are releasing the album through Sydney indie Inertia, and streaming music service Deezer, who are exclusively streaming the new French/Australian compilation.
The final list of artists featured on the album is yet to be revealed, but those confirmed to appear on Mélodie Française include The Jezabels, Thelma Plum, Lisa Mitchell and Dappled Cities, but there’s already an apéritifs for the new compilation.
The ARIA nominated singer-songwriter Gossling and Oh Mercy’s Alexander Gow have teamed up to record their rendition of “La Minute de Silence”, a song popularised by French singer Michel Berger and about taking the requisite moment to contemplate lost love. To help get Gow and Gossling get into the proper mood for their duet, the pair headed to Paris where they palled about the City Of Love to film the accompanying video…
The track was premiered on Deezer in early March and is currently available on iTunes as leading the charge for Mélodie Française as the rest of the album’s tracklist is slowly revealed.
To help get Gow and Gossling get into the proper mood for their duet, the pair headed to Paris where they palled about the City Of Love to film the accompanying video clip for “La Minute de Silence”, as well as officially launch the single at the Headquarters of the French-born Deezer.
Since its launch in 2007, Deezer swelled to 182 countries worldwide and 3 million paid subscribers to its on-demand digital music service, becoming a serious competitor to the current market leader, the Swedish-based Spotify, while recently upgraded its API services to include a rewards scheme and a host of new user-based apps.
As for who we can expect from the final Mélodie Française tracklist, it’s anyone’s guess. But we’d personally love to hear The Jezabels tackling some Edith Piaf, somebody trying their hand at some Daft Punk and Phoenix before the Parisians new albums arrive; while Gotye and Kimbra could go another round of world domination with a quivering take on Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin’s ‘Je t’aime… Moi non Plus’. But if not, well, c’est la vie.
You stream Gossling & Oh Mercy’s “La Minute de Silence” over at Deezer, and more information as it arrives over at the Mélodie Française website, while you can view some photos of Gow and Gossling’s Paris trip below:
