Balance l’Aurore

The genres dipped into are familiar, but it's the idiosyncrasies that this French singer, composer and accordionist brings to her wayward waltzes, slippery chansons and teetering tangos that holds the attention. Thanks to her musical ambitions, Louis’ second album is a sprightly and atmospheric pleasure from beginning to end. And even though it features some 25 musicians, there is plenty of light and space between the evocatively nostalgic strings, jaunty brass and the occasional pert ting of triangle.

However, I’m not sure the many Edith Piaf comparisons that Louis appears to have received are wholly accurate. Both singers are French and some of these songs are chansons, but Piaf has a rasp, vibrato and volume nothing like the lighter, more intimate style Louis exhibits on sprightly little numbers such as ‘Un Nid de Lit’ with its tinkling bar-room piano and heavenly choir. And then, just when one has become familiar with the halcyon idyll being presented, ‘Velour Noir’ comes along with its strident disco beat and angry distorted guitar. Overt theatricality can become wearying, but Louis pulls it off by letting her nuanced and quirky arrangements serve her songs rather than be centre stage.