SÉBASTIEN TELLIER
RETURNS WITH THE NEW TRACK ‘A BALLET’
Over the course of a career spanning two decades, the Parisian pop genius Sébastien Tellier has forged his own unique journey. His eclectic strand of pop-electronica has been sampled by The Weeknd, he hascollaborated with everyone from Jean-Michel Jarre to Daft Punk and Sofia Coppola, gatecrashed the Eurovision Song Contest in a golf cart and has seen his masterpiece La Ritournelle described by NME as “basically Unfinished Sympathy part two”.
Recent years have seen Tellier apply his synth-focused sonics to other projects: two soundtracks and the writing of Dita Von Teese’s debut album.
Now he shares brand new single ‘A Ballet’ as he prepares to unveil more material later this year.
With ‘A Ballet’, Tellier captures the keen melodies of classic pop songwriting and combines with the flair of the dreamy French electronica that he’s renowned for. His vocodered vocals deliver lyrics which feel part romantic and part cryptic, while a hazy sax and laidback beats echo the yacht rock era. The song’s title is a pun which plays on artistry and domesticity. A ballet sounds much like the French word balai – a broom.
“This is a trip towards the edge of my intimacy, lost between my micro cosmos and my macro cosmos.” says Tellier.
“I am inclined to escape my responsibilities but theses days they tend to catch up to me. Domestic tasks and mental load invite me to dance their never-ending ballet. Little by little, I allow myself to enjoy it. And I ask myself: maybe the key to happiness is there, hidden under a dirty laundry basket?
That rare blend of the fantastical and the everyday informs the track’s accompanying video. On first glance, it’s an ordinary scene of a family breakfast. But then the camera zooms on to a worktop, where a miniature Tellier – resplendent in a white suit and guitar – performs the song. Valentine Reinhardt’s playful video captures some memorably surreal scenes. Notably, Tellier lounging in the middle of a bowl of cereal before his nose and beard are caked in white powder.
“‘A Ballet’ is a dreamlike vision of domestic life,” says Reinhardt. “Out of the limelight, Sébastien is so engrossed in household chores that he starts hallucinating. Reduced to a miniature state in his own home, his character wanders and rummages through all the rooms, frightened and amazed at what his daily life has become. Sébastien, the artist, cohabits now with Sébastien, the domestic fairy.”
Sébastien Tellier released hisdebut album ‘L’incroyable vérité’ in 2001 on Parislabel Record Makers. Soon he was on the radar not only of Daft Punk, who used one of its tracks in their film ‘Electroma’ (Daft Punk’s Guy‐Man de Homem‐Christo later went to produce Tellier’s 2008 album ‘Sexuality’) but also into the affections of Sofia Coppola. Tellier’s track ‘Fantino’ ended up playing a pivotal part in her classic movie ‘Lost In Translation’. Coppola’s appreciation of Tellier’s talents continued when she included ‘Look’ (from ‘Sexuality’) in her 2010 film ‘Somewhere’.
Tellier has also been embraced by the fashion world. The late, great Karl Lagerfeld personally invited him to perform at Chanel’s Haute Couture show during Paris Fashion Week in 2014.
His albums have since taken us to exotic places. He whisked listeners off to Brazilian jungles (2014’s ‘L’Aventura’), into imagined movies (2013’s ‘Confection’) and across spiritual realms (2012’s ‘My God Is Blue’). With a new journey now underway, the brilliant, humourful master of melody Sébastien Tellier lives on, more riveting than ever.
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