It is with an album of duets that Cali decided to celebrate his twenty years of career. Covers of his most beautiful songs, for which he invited artists he admires. From Calogero to Olivia Ruiz via Eliott Murphy, Twenty years of perfect love celebrates with panache an intact and eclectic passion for music.
3 mins
03/12/2024
Perfect Lovewas the title of Cali’s first album, released in 2003. An album sold more than 500,000 copies, which firmly anchored the Catalan artist in the landscape of French song. Folk, pop and rock that we find, partly here, transformed, notably thanks to the piano of the British Steve Nieve. So it is with That’s when happinessin duet with Francis Cabrelcarried by the piano and the cello, this danceable piece, more serious and melancholy, gains in superbness.
On She told meanother hit by the singer that he performs with Calogerohere too the rhythm is softer thanks to the presence of the piano. The transverse flute (which recalls that of the Paris awakens by Jacques Dutronc) blends harmoniously with the voices of the two performers. Still exhumed from the first album, There is a questionwhich Cali intones with CharlElie Coutureis a marvel. The tender irony of the song and its strong piano suit perfectly the most American of Lorraine singers and his friend.
In duet with Bernard Lavilliersmoving and panting Differentwhich ends with a declamation of a poem by John Donne, from the 17th century, No man is an islandreminds us that Cali is also a committed and activist artist. If certain duos seem obvious (The Big Daywhose cruel irony he underlines with a Bénabar in great shape, or Things forbidden, with Pascal Obispo whose velvety voice blends so well with that of Cali), Twenty years of perfect love also includes some very nice surprises: Do with me what you wantin duet with Belgian jazz singer and composer David Linx, Everything is fine with the American cult rocker Eliott Murphy or, It’s always morning with the Italian-Belgian Salvatore Adamo. A singer he “loves” says Cali. We believe it all the more since it is perhaps the most beautiful duet on the record. The cello of Coco, Cali’s daughter, and the piano enhance the voice of the singer Snow falls. Eighty years on the clock, the “elder” of the record sings with a fragility full of grace, to which a visibly moved Cali responds.
Oddly, for a singer who has written so much about love, women are hardly present on this anniversary album. With the notable exception of another Mediterranean artist, Olivia Ruiz who sings Dolorosa with enthusiasm and nervousness. And from Cali’s daughter, Coco Calicuri, who performs the last piece of the record, Perfect lovewith his father. As a way of coming full circle, emphasizing that even if the years pass, the unifying passion for music persists. Finally and above all, and this is too rare not to highlight it, Twenty years of perfect love is an album in its own right. A pure Cali, tormented, exalted and fraternal.
Cali Twenty years of perfect love (Verycords) 2024
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