Track Listing

1. La Jeune Fille Aux Cheveux Blancs
2. Ta Douleur
3. Assise
4. Janine 1
5. Vous
6. Baby Carni Bird
7. Pour Que L'amour Me Quitte
8. Senza
9. Janine 2
10. Vertige
11. Au Port
12. Janine 3
13. P�le Septembre
14. La Rue De M�nilmontant
15. Quand Je Marche (Nouvelle Version)
16. Femme Lib�r�

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3623 in Music
• Released on: 2006-06-19
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Content/Copy-Protected CD

From the Label
Nearly one year on, and the sands have shifted for Camille. Last year, she was the front-runner vocalist of Nouvelle Vague, with a solo studio album under her belt. Then she released Le Fil to enormous acclaim in France.

For those of you who have not yet heard her, Camille's voice is a '"once heard, never forgotten" experience. Her crystal clear vocals, by turn childlike, whimsical, quirky and pensive, have already induced comparisons with Bjork but her playful tones - sourced by turn from Gallic and African musics - are never less than her own. Writing about this comparison in the Observer Music Monthly, DJ Charlie Gillett says "I prefer Camille whose experiments and emotional expression feels more natural and spontaneous and convincing".

On her recent brief trip here for her first ever UK performance at Jazz Cafe, Camille attached rave "live" reviews from; The Observer "...if you still want convincing that French pop can be truly special, look no further than Camille....a ravishing voice of her own", Independent On Sunday "Camille is one of the world's greatest popstars. The world just doesn't know it yet" and The Guardian "A quirky and daring London debut".

Customer Reviews

Multi-cultural musical madness
BONJOUR!

I recently went to Paris for a weekend, and discovered this CD. It's the second solo album by French singer songwritr Camille who also performed with Nouvelle Vague (an album of bossa nova covers of new wave songs) and I think she did someting with Etienne de Crecy (a single from Super Discount 2).
Even if you do not understand a word of French, you can't miss the musical genius of this album. It has to be one of the most original and striking CDs released in years, mainly because of two fascinating features;

1) LE FIL (The Line or The Thread) which seems to represent the single long held note that runs the entire length of the CD, even after the 15 songs have finished! I think in Indian music it's called a drone.

2) The arrangements using 'human beatbox' (that's what the credits say) and lots of quirky vocal effects and harmonies all done by Camille it seems. It's light but funky, and you don't actually miss traditional instruments.

The songs themselves are very catchy and sometimes beautiful and haunting. I don't understand all the lyrics (GCSE French only!) but I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything.
I found her the official site www.camille-lefil.com - if you need more proof that this is a masterpiece. I suspect that we'll all be hearing a lot more from Camille in the future. I hope she releases some stuff in English at some point.

In the meantime, buy this album and you will not be disappointed. In France it's a phenomenon!

My best musical discovery for ages.....
To point out to another reviewer the "annoying undertone" throughout the record is actually the concept of the entire thing. 'Le Fil' is roughly translated as 'The Thread' hence the line that appears thoughout the packaging. The Thread is a perpetual vocal hum that lasts the entirity of the record. It has a strange effect becasue you end up hearing it even when the album has finished!
Camille sings 98% of the record in her native French and it (if you don't speak it) gives an ethereal mystical quality to it. The saturation of melody in this album more than makes up for the fact that you cannot understand the lyrics.
It's majority is constructed entirely of vocals, a similar concept to Bjork's Medulla album. Camille makes a plethora of noises, ululations and percussive sounds to augment her lyrics and the occasional bass guitar. Theres a goreous bit where she hits a note which gets blended into the same note by a saxophone and the effect is superb.
A fantastic album, varied, innovtive, even catchy. I find myself singing along without knowing what the hell I'm on about! I would say it's an aquired taste but it's worth checking out.

Fantastic album that I can't play on my mp3 player
An absolute joy of an album. Listened to it 3 times back to back and could listen several times more. Her clever use of sounds, vocal percussion and multiple overlays of voice together with good use of themes and excellent production makes this my absolute favorite album of the year.

Withdraw one start because copy protected wma files mean that I can't play this on my mp3 player - my primary way of listening to music. What a disappointment.