Laure Briard is based in Toulouse, the landlocked capital of France’s southern Occitanie region, a couple of hundred kilometres north of Spain. But for her new album, Ne pas trop rester bleue, Briard found inspiration in the Californian desert.
The songwriting is influenced by towering figures of American music such as Carole King and Lee Hazlewood, as well as Stereolab’s Laetitia Sadier. As ever with Briard, there’s touch of 1960s French pop, a la Françoise Hardy, and a healthy injection of psychedelia, as well as Briard’s poetic lyrics.
Laure Briard: Ne pas trop rester bleue
The album title translates to “don’t stay too blue”. Briard describes Ne pas trop rester bleue as an album about “travel, introspection and imaginary love.” Briard was particularly inspired by a journey into the desertlands of California’s Joshua Tree National Park in 2019.
The ten-song release arrives four years after Briard’s previous album, Un peu plus d’amour s’il vous plaît, as well as the EPs Coração Louco (2018) and Eu Voo (2021), which drew heavily on Brazilian music.
“The difference with my last album is that Ne pas trop rester bleue is more optimistic,” says Briard. “Things happened in my life that gave me a new impulse.”
Ne pas trop rester bleue is out now through the Sydney/Wollongong based record label Third Eye Stimuli Records and internationally via Midnight Special. Briard’s music features in the new season of the Netflix hit Emily In Paris.
Further Reading
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