The French prophetess of mystical nonsense - Mylene Farmer

One of the greatest stars ever in France and a master in orchestrating massive publicity campaigns out of nothing, Mylène Farmer is a techno/pop singer who has carefully crafted the perfect image to go with her peculiar brand of music: ethereal, calculatedly aloof and visually alluring. Known for her frequently unintelligible lyrics full of intricate pop culture references and the sweet, sugary vocals with which she sublimates the stout, fleshy melodies that most of her songs have (courtesy of her long time collaborator, Laurent Boutonnat), Miss Farmer is a world class illusionist in pop star disguise; or a fairy of pretension that has learned to masterfully produce all the ticks and odd mannerisms of a musical alchemist. Or maybe she’s just laughing of us all, as we just look on like idiots.

Born in Québec to a family of French immigrants, La Farmer lead a very simple and uneventful life before her family moved back to France when she was eight. This experience was an enlightening one for her, because it opened her world to the marvels of Romantic and Realist French literature, often being able to walk through the places described in most books – from there onwards, Mylène would have a fascination with Gothic culture and the darkest aspects of the human condition.

Known for her extremely creative and elaborate videos, which are always built around and within her songs, lengthening and modifying them to suit the twists and turns of the story they intend to tell, Mylène has often met criticism for the heightened sense of erotica that most of her videos deploy, as well as her apparent fascination with violent and/or unsettling images. With images of her being alternately burned alive or devoured by wolves, playing an angel chained to a steam engine while singing about AIDS or impersonating two twin sisters who lead opposite lifestyles, and are left in shock after their first, unexpected encounter only to be separated again when one of them is murdered by her pimp (who is then murdered by the twin left alive - isn't this the best soap opera you've ever read about? :-) ) Mylène has both fascinated and scandalized the French people over two decades with her love for pushing the envelope and taking exaggeration to unsuspected heights of kitsch.



Even though most of her material could be classed as ‘techno pop’, Farmer has often embraced other styles, venturing into hip hop/rock and almost-classical music whenever she felt the need to leave her comfort zone. She's also the brain behind the phenomenon that was Alizée, who will be, of course, object of a future post. If you want to buy her records, go to Amazon France.

Libertine

This synthesizer crazy song is the very definition of 80’s music! It is dead fun and combines an aggressive, cold background with Mylène’s overly sweet vocals and the inescapable chorus, which will have you enthralled with its airy harmonies and high pitched vocal hooks. It was her fourth single and first truly massive hit, turning her into a superstar and making of her début Cendres De Lune/Moon's Ashes one of the highest sellers in France during 1984. The video is, like all of Mylène’s, extremely imaginative and melodramatic, with her posing as a man and engaging in all sorts of crazy behaviour. This video is also the first one in history to show several people completely naked (including Mylène).

Désenchantée/Disenchanted

Mylène’s greatest hit ever, this is one of those songs that become inextricably linked to a particular time, both because they define it and because they are bound to it musically. I cannot imagine anyone releasing this now… Or maybe not! In 2002 Kate Ryan made a version of this, and it managed to be quite successful on the strength of a very good remix. Still, I prefer Mylène’s version, which sounds far fresher and more dramatic. This comes from the album L’Autre/The Other One, from 1991, and is the only one of Mylène’s singles to have a high chart placing in most European countries. The anti-child labour and police state video, which takes place at a Russian gulag, is spectacular!

California

The closest that Mylène has ever come to doing a power ballad, California is a strange song that delightfully manages to express the bizarre feelings of amusement, curiosity and emotional tension that most Europeans feel when they visit one of those grotesquely impersonal juggernauts that are major American cities. However, it does it over what could be described as a lazy hip-hop beat and an oppressive, yet surprisingly sparse instrumentation. With lyrics that border on what could be described a borderline psychotic state of euphoria, this is one of her more accomplished works of deliciously contrived and irresistible pop mastery. As it always happens with Mylène, the video is mesmerizing - the twins I talked about before are here! :-D.

Fuck Them All

The first single from her latest opus, the utterly strange-yet-alluring work Avant Que L’Ombre/Before The Shadows, this song is a journey into what seems to be Mylène’s vision of a world that exists only through fast-running images. The video is very bizarre, with Mylène being caged, fighting effigies made of cloth that bleed when she strikes them, and a wonderful final scene in which she disintegrates after having attained freedom by defeating her 'enemies'!