There are albums that are similar to a treasure chest of precious things, records to be handled with care, which open the doors to an intimate and personal world, where the only key to understanding is the passion for music and the art of composition . The French poet and musician Olivier Rocabois is a craftsman of the seven notes, a jeweler who creates precious songwriting and pop artefacts, in full respect of a generation of noble chisellers such as Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson, Elton John, Harry Nilsson and Michel Polnareff, with a taste baroque where the elegant theatricality of Divine Comedy and the first solo Scott Walker echo.
Already the author, under the name All If, of an album that is now a true cult object, “Absolute Poetry”, Olivier Rocabois has already exhibited an elegant set of songs in “Goes Too Far”, but the new album is decidedly ambitious and projects him towards new expressive heights. In addition to the aforementioned sources of inspiration, “The Afternoon Of Our Lives” offers a curious assonance with the first David Bowie, that of “Hunky Dory” and “Ziggy Stardust”.
Conceived as an old vinyl with two different and complementary sides, “The Afternoon Of Our Lives” is a painful album, created thanks to a propitious crowdfundingwhich allowed Rocabois to be able to count on the help of capable musicians in the recording room.
“The Afternoon Of Our Lives” is the story of a man who, despite many disappointments and difficulties, continues to love the purity of art and music. In the first part of the album, the one made with a supporting group, the quality of the songs is impressive: glam and beat find common ground on which references to the Beatles (“Stained Glass Lena”) flow with playful beauty, baroque cadences where they intertwine refrain Elton John-style piano playing and airy melodies that recall the Walker Brothers (“45 Trips Around The Sun”).
Until now, no one has ever dared to draw a link between two characters as distant as David Bowie and Randy Newman: Rocabois faces this chimera with authority and a pinch of risk, with results of rare power and beauty (“The Coming Of Spring”, “You Only Live Thrice”).
The truth is that everything runs perfectly on Olivier Rocabois' new album. The voice is more malleable and expressive than ever, the instrumental ensemble of piano, guitars and violins is not only perfectly calibrated and never excessive, but above all elegant, refined, even when the game becomes more difficult and complex (“From Hampstead Heath To St John's Wood”).
A valuable watershed between the two sections of the album, the eight minutes of “Prologue/ Trippin' On Memory Lane” stage a similar operetta in which the Beach Boys and the Beatles hold hands, until they whirl around in an imaginary fantastic place where they appear folk and psychedelic sounds, which are entrusted with the task of characterizing the remaining tracks.
The four ballads that follow the mini-suite are based on acoustic structures where piano and guitar predominate, now intercepting an organ (“Merrymakers”), now voices and bells (“All The Sun”).
A characterizing element of the French musician's new album is the writing of the songs: authentic pearls such as “Over The Moon” and “Lifetime Achievement Award Speech” intercept the charm of the past, not only evoking its beauty but even renewing its poetic intensity, consecrating ” The Afternoon Of Our Lives” as a jewel of rare workmanship.
10/13/2024
Antonio Santini for SANREMO.FM
