Richard Lewis: accordion, hurdy gurdy, piano, banjo, melodica, guitar, electric guitar, harmonica, glockenspiel, componium, theremin, keyboards, ukelele, drums, vocals.
Louis Barfe: drums on She's in Stars. Abigail Boucher: vocals on Stars. Jean-Baptiste Bridon: flugelhorn. Jane Burke: cellos. Valentin Callipel: double bass. Laurence Freund: violins. Aude Petras: vocals on Rue Berthe. Jude Rees: oboe, clarinet, flute, woodwind arrangement on La Bercée. Nancy Wallace: vocals on When the Heart Gives In.
Jude's parts for La Bercée were recorded at Blue Moon Studio, Oxfordshire, England. Engineered by Mark Lee.
Richard Lewis : Secret Concert at the Septième Ciel
Christophe Dufeu, POPnews
Photos: Yann Stevens
It began pretty much like this: an e-mail, a text message, a secret rendezvous in Paris a stone’s throw from a scooter accident, a short walk in the 18th district and a climb to the Septième Ciel. A few minutes earlier, one or two raindrops threatened to damp our enthusiasm for this concert venue situated between earth and sky. But thankfully the raindrops would not be back. The competition winners have brought a bottle or something to graise on, have put on their lucky red shirts and are getting to know each other over a drink as they wait for the gig to begin.
Around 9:30, Richard, accompanied by his two musicians (Aude petras on accordion and Chloe Dunn on violin), takes his guitar in hand, before thirty or so people packed onto the terrace of the Septième Ciel. The backdrop: Montmartre and the illuminated Sacré Coeur. The delicate songs are then laid out, some in English, some in French, puntuated with touches of wit (“I feel nicely English inviting you to enjoy an open air concert on this freezing September evening”) and medicinal draughts from his hipflask.
The songs oscillate between English tradition (Richard covers the folk song Sing Ivy) and French chanson (with Aude Petras sharing vocal duties on certain numbers), between a silky folk with a voice that recalls Tindersticks' Stuart Staples and twirling arrangements remniniscent of our homegrown Yann Tiersen.
Only the singer’s voice is amplified and the balance of instruments is perfect. The songs, most of which Lewis claims are about “twisted relationships”, are drawn mainly from his latest album, Postcard, with titles such as La Chanson d’Antan, L’Autre Bout du Monde, Vers St. Rémy or La Valse des Bas Quartiers. At just few centimetres from the muscians we catch glimpses of a happy complicity — a fleeting glance, a knowing smile — and sense the pleasure they have in playing together. Difficult, in this warm and convivial atmosphere, not to feel the same way.
"Ecrivain, vidéaste et musicien, Richard fait preuve d'une sensibilité particulièrement touchante dans les mots qu'il choisit, les images qu'il monte et la musique qu'il écrit. Un univers personnel souvent nostalgique flirtant avec celui de Yann Tiersen ou des Tindersticks et que le jeune homme exprime avec sincérité dans son travail."
POPnews
"Writer, film maker and musician, Richard shows a particularly touching sensitivity in the words he chooses, the images he edits and the music he writes. A personal universe, often nostalgic, which flirts with those of Tindersticks or Yann Tiersen and which the young man expresses with sincerity in his work."
POPnews
Photo: Paula Cea
"Richard Lewis (accordéon, chanteur) Anglais d'origine, il vit et travaille à Paris. Musicien aux "teintes" musicales d'une grande sensibilité, son univers est empreint de légèreté mais aussi de nostalgie... Il trouve son inspiration de la vie, tout simplement ! Il nous offre à travers ses chansons, des récits de vies qui touchent, qui ne laissent pas indifférents... qui résonnent en nous peut-être même..."
Diva'rt
"Originally from England, Richard Lewis lives and works in Paris. A musician whose musical textures show great sensitivity, his world is imprinted with lightness and nostalgia ... He finds his inspiration from life, quite simply. Via his songs, he offers us vignettes of lives that touch us, leaving few indifferent and which perhaps even resonate in all of us."
Diva'rt
NEW! Richard talks POPnews through each track on his album Postcard
La chanson d'antan
Je suis toujours hanté, agréablement, par l'idée de croiser par hasard des anciens amours ou des anciens camarades. Avec le temps, tout change, et un endroit – ou bien une chanson - autrefois chargé d'émotion, peut sembler tout nu ... read more
POSTCARD, 2007
12 tracks. 41 minutes. €10,00.
shipping fee: €2.00 per parcel
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The cover shot was taken by Paula Cea. The other images here are my own.
I just don't know...check with the guy who comes from the up-side-down half of the world. Love all that you have on this page, Delevine quality is the best kind. xChloex
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