On the cover of “Rêvalité”, released recently, the guitarist-singer appears small on a purple background, in a suit of the same color in a superhero style.
“With this photo like that of a small character, the idea was to make a figurine of my double, – M -; as a child, I had a superman figurine a bit like that,” explains AFP. artist.
The thread with the Comics universe is unrolled in the clips like the title track “Rêvalité”. – M -, in his new purple costume, comes out of his lair in his stylized racing car, references to Batman and his Batcave. But without the dark and tortured side of the Batman. As Matthieu Chedid says, – M – feels “missioned to balance high energy in a low energy world”.
Clearly, the showman returns to impress his audience, after the time of the tours aborted by the fault of the health crisis.
– “It’s an honor” –
He warmed up with a series of concerts at the Folies Bergère in Paris and will now tackle the summer festivals before moving on from the start of the school year. With the high point of this giant tour four dates at the Zenith in Paris just before Christmas.
And as Batman is supported by Robin, – M – has found a strong ally with Gail Ann Dorsey, the American who was Bowie’s emblematic bassist in the 1990s/2000s.
“First, it’s an honor, like when I was dubbed by Vanessa Paradis 20 years ago (she asked for her album Divinidylle)”, comments the son of Louis Chedid. “This English-speaking voice brings back to the 1980s, with a Grace Jones side and the Gainsbourg Love on the beat period, it will give an American side, a somewhat particular tint to the album”, he continues. Gail Ann Dorsey, present on the album, will also provide bass and backing vocals throughout the tour.
With his high-intensity playing, disco/funk titles like “Mogodo” or “Dans le living” will make people dance in front of the stages.
As usual with Matthieu Chedid, the lightness, the pop bubble side of his album, does not prevent a few messages.
– “Nothing replaces concerts” –
” Rêvalité is very playful, I started with the idea of red for reality, blue for dreams, which gives purple, since my grandmother (the woman of letters Andrée Chedid) wondered why dissociate dream and reality”, dissects the fifty-year-old. “And in the playful, we can slip adult things through the eyes of the child”.
The “Rêvalité” clip thus shows passers-by enslaved by their mobile phones. “It’s the total screen, which anesthetizes us from everything, I’m the first victim, I don’t point the finger at the others,” he confides. “But maybe I’ll suggest to my audience in concert, for one or two songs, Come on, let’s have a trip, everyone keep their phone in their pocket”.
The importance of art and bringing it to life oozes from a track like “Fellini,” named after the director of “Eight and a Half.” “During the confinements, we were able to become aware of the value of things like art, when we were deprived of museums or cinemas”, he underlines. “We were able to access culture with the platforms, it’s already exceptional, but nothing really replaces concert halls, cinemas, theaters, museums, all those who make the effort to go there know it. “.
