The Jukebox’s favourite Frenchman returns…

[Website][Video]
[6.00]

Alex Wisgard: Sounds like the Delays covering Kevin Rudolf’s “Let It Rock”. In French. This is a good thing.
[6]

Briony Edwards: Distinctly French in tone and style; distinctly unremarkable. Sounds like MASTRKRFT’s dance beats meet Sebastien Tellier’s synths and “kooky edge”, with occasional rock guitars thrown in for good measure. A bit of a mess really. Props for the so-called motorbike synth sounds in the intro, though.
[3]

Alex Ostroff: Berlin opens with what is, if I’m not mistaken, the menacing tones of a tuba, or its synthesized equivalent. The electro-rock backing captures the mood of a song in which night turns our bodies to Braille, and the spectre of Berlin draws us away from those we love to wander the city’s dark and seductive streets. Let It Rock stormed the charts in North America with these tools, but Christophe uses the palette to create something both stranger and better. Between this and Keri Hilson, if we’re seeing a rise in tuba pop, I whole-heartedly approve.
[8]

Martin Kavka: This opens with the sound of a foghorn, which is puzzling for an ode to a landlocked city. But when Willem sings “Berlin m’allume et je m’oublie” in those triple-tracked falsetto harmonies, I melt. Another top release from the most compelling male singer since David McAlmont.
[9]

Ian Mathers: Embarrassingly enough, looking over my old Jukebox files, the last time we covered a Christophe Willem song I spent the entire blurb talking about “her” – I’m still not sure why I was convinced Willem was a woman. But I am still convinced he’s kind of boring – I’ve spent most of my listens to “Berlin” parsing out the relative androgyny of his voice rather than caring about the song.
[4]

Joseph McCombs: If Scissor Sisters had been handed a demo of “Low” with newly written French lyrics, it might well have turned out like this. And since I would have given such a recording a very high rating, I guess I’ve got to do so here for Mr. Willem.
[7]

Tom Ewing: The chaotic combination of electropop, falsetto and wailing guitar on “Berlin” takes me back to my first ever encounters with continental pop, when my French teacher – a veteran of ’68 – initiated me into the dark secrets of Guesch Patti. Of course back then I thought it was complete rubbish, whereas now its shameless vulgarity titillates my jaundiced ears. Good tune too.
[7]

Additional Scores

Hillary Brown: [3]
Martin Skidmore: [7]