CRITICISM – The broken and quavering voice, to the sound of a very sad fanfare, Mister Renard celebrates his birthday with a disc composed of covers of Brassens, Reggiani, Montand or Trénet.
« Is Renaud still alive? » Never reassuring about his state of health, this question is the third query that appears when you type the singer’s name on Google. Yes, despite this fear of death that haunts him as he recently declared on RTL, he is still standing and celebrating this May 11 his first outburst in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, 70 years ago.
For this birthday, which he celebrated on France 2 with his good friends (Dave, Zaz, Élodie Frégé, Joyce Jonathan or Bénabar, non-exhaustive list…), Mister Renard offers himself a new album. Métèque -it’s its title in homage to Georges Moustaki- revisits artists’ directories who were important to him, from Ferrat to Brassens via Montand or Reggiani.
It is moreover by the tube of Moustaki, that this disc opens. Renaud clings to words (not notes) like a shipwrecked man. His voice staggers. She has rubbed shoulders with all the suns, with all the successes, with all the excesses too, she is…
