Mylène Farmer – Cendres De Lune

Ironically, this one, among other Farmer's masterpieces was a massive hit record while Mylene sounds quite distant from stereotypical commercial successes.

Her talents were (and still are) often compared to those of Madonna's but she cut as equally, if not abbrasively, different stylistic niche - evident in both, music and video of the time, which even by today's standards seem well crafted and timeless - while many of her contemporaries proved quite dated as the 80s progressed, Mylene's music was quite a feat, she was always more of a French 'Pet Shop Boy' than 'Lollita' or 'Madonna' in of her public image.

Songs are a fair mixture of sexual and introverted matters, most notably death and violence, all wrapped up under a strange veil of melancholy. While singing predominanly in French, there are tiny interferences in English ('We'll never Die'), choosing these phrases more for their sound than actual meaning, although it is obvious from such titles Mylene uses them with purpose.

In its total, 'Cendres de Lune' will remain more of the alternative crowds' favourite rather than people who expect something of a certain Vanessa Paradis. 'Libertine' like its tiny predecessors - the original single versions of 'Maman a Tort' and 'Out De Tous Des Imbeciles' (the latter remaining an obscurity in itself, missing from any potential CD edition) seem harmless and typically naive French style pop, however there is a slight air of mystery here, too; 'Maman a Tort' is reported to be a story of a girl embraced by a nurse, slowly falling in love with her; while already a title suggestion that 'We Are All Idiots' is a chucked grenade in an otherwise 'harmless' pop-song.

A bit one-dimensional on first listen, 'Cendres de Lune' is an eclectic mix of choral arrangements, aggressive synthdrums and childish vocal theatrics - listening to pieces like 'Chloe', 'Plus Grandir', or creepy pieces 'Vieoux Bouc' and the title instrumental, seems more ideal a soundtrack to 'The Omen' than to the Eurovision song contest; intelligently mixing chanson trademarks with modern electro-pop won Mylene Farmer a formula she follows throughout most of her career; enigmatic and exposed at the same time. Brilliant.