LOUIS PHILIPPE - The Road To The Sea

The fortieth anniversary of the release of “Appointment With Venus” – the debut album by French musician, cook and sports journalist Louis Philippe (real name Philippe Auclair) – is approaching without much fanfare, a milestone that also coincides with the publication of a book on the history of El Records, a label that turned the very concept of pop music into an original mix of bubblegum, classical, jazz, soundtracks and industrial noise, with a transgressive, eclectic attitude filtered through an almost philosophical vision – a vision that El founder Mike Alway shared and shaped with the complicity of Auclair, who had recently earned a degree in philosophy.

Louis Philippe's influence and artistic foresight also left their mark on the history of another cult label, the Spanish Siesta Records, while the French artist also found a fair amount of success in Japan, further consolidated by the release of several records on the Japanese label Trattoria. Philippe is also a renowned producer and arranger: he has arranged strings for Clientele and Xtc, and has collaborated with Martin Newell, Louise Le May, La Buena Vida, and others.

Despite the wealth of releases that came out in 2020 (the anthology of unreleased material “Unheard”, the album with Stuart Moxham of Young Marble Giants, “The Devil Laughs”, and the excellent “Thunderclouds” with Night Mail), hopes for a new Louis Philippe album had all but faded, and rumours of a possible follow-up to his collaborative project with Testbild (“The Ocean Tango”) had quickly died down, until the release of a single, “Pictures Of Anna”, reignited fans' curiosity and heralded the arrival of the new album.

"The Road To The Sea" is a masterpiece of sonic craftsmanship, an archetype of songwriting and arrangement that ennobles pop music; it's also the most complete and exhaustive work by an artist who has never been stingy when it comes to dispensing harmonies and melodic flourishes. The latest project from Louis Philippe is a collection of fourteen songs of ecstatic grace and luxurious style, a record well suited to the image of monarch, cardinal and murderous revolutionary of pop music — some of the promotional gimmicks El used to launch its first releases.

Cascades of melodies, unbound by any fixed sense of time, blend with a gentle melancholy marked by waltz tempos, vocal harmonies in the style of Beach Boys, and orchestrations where Burt Bacharach, Francis Poulenc, Maurice Ravel and Duke Ellington coexist. A sonic unicum filtered through a sensibility that ranges from Left Banke to the Zombies, from the Kinks to Xtc, from the Beatles to Steely Dan, from Les Baxter to Esquivel, dragging along lounge orchestrations, jazz harmonic scales, neoclassical residue and a surrealism that makes the whole thing light and enchanting.

"The Road To The Sea" fills the void left by Xtc, especially the adventurous, elaborate Xtc of "Skylarking", with the substantial difference that Louis Philippe is a synthesis of Andy Partridge, Colin Moulding and Todd Rundgren. Just listen to the brilliant midtempo of "All At Sea" to be dazzled by the extreme polish of the musical elements on display: harpsichord, piano, bass, drums, drum machine, guitars, keyboards, male choirs, hissing synths.

This time the French musician can also count on a rather incisive lead single, one that not only underscores the hallmarks of his songwriting but also puts years of pop music in order, from the Kinks to Electric Light Orchestra, with a dash of sunshine-pop extravagance that heightens its nuances.

A further point of interest lies in the now-perfect synergy with the band enlisted six years ago under the name The Night Mail and assembled to support the comeback of John Howard — Austrian guitarist Robert Rotifer (Electric Eels, Darren Hayman, Judy Dyble and John Howard), bassist Andy Lewis (Spearmint, Paul Weller) and drummer/guitarist Ian Button (Thrashing Doves, Death in Vegas, Sergeant Buzfuz) — almost a mini-orchestra tasked with elegantly polishing harmonically ambitious, aristocratic songs ("The Road To Somewhere", "Wine And Roses").

This time Louis Philippe opted for a more elaborate approach to writing the songs, rather than recording live in the studio as he did on the previous "Thunderclouds", a choice that highlights the care taken over the complex arrangements of uptempo tracks full of a thousand shades, like the exquisite organ touches and constant harmonic shifts of "Watching Your Sun Go Down" or the charming exotic, surf-tinged sounds of "Where Did We Go Wrong".

Inevitably, the French artist's chansonnier spirit keeps peeking through, amid dreamy waltzes ("La Maison Sans Toit"), elegant Nouvelle Vague-style ballads ("Le Basier") and a triptych that works like a mini-symphony, evolving from the hushed, romantic notes of "To The Sea" toward library music-style sounds in the dreamlike instrumental "Always", before finding its resolution in the nostalgic "Ville Lumiere", a gorgeous ballad in which the musician shows off his considerable skills as an arranger for orchestra and choir.

Louis Philippe's songs aren't really pop songs, but finely crafted sonic and harmonic sculptures. Tracks like "Those Days Of Summer" trace back to the best seeds of the Beach Boys, Xtc and High Llamas, framed by instrumental flourishes that brush up against psychedelia. And it's equally hard to ignore the author's remarkable command in crafting songs that are seemingly simple yet deep, like "A Friend".

Crowning so much grace and inspiration, the French musician pays tribute to Paddy McAloon of Prefab Sprout, with a composition that unhesitatingly ranks among the finest songs Philippe has written in his long career.

Refined and just melancholic enough, "Song For Paddy (Wings Of Desire)" has everything it takes to be considered a classic of singer-songwriter pop, but fortune and fame seem to be the last things on the French musician's mind; ça va sans dire he's neither the first nor the last musician waiting for the critical and public recognition he deserves, yet the strong impression remains that, far from being a mere outsider, Louis Philippe deserves to be regarded as a genuine genius.

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02/05/2025