Let's just say this from the start: an album like this one, Mendelson's fifth, isn't one you come across every day. Or every week. Or even every month for that matter. No, in France, you encounter such an album every, what, ten years? Fifteen years maybe? L?o Ferr?'s Il n'y a plus rien, Bashung and Gainsbourg's Play Blessures... It's the same surprise. The same shock. And the same certainty that you have found a reliable companion for years to come. Yes, people will still be listening to these eleven songs in 2030, like they still listen to Comme ? la radio, like they still listen to Les Marquises. It's rare to feel the chill (or rather ice cold) breeze of posterity pass... But this impressive triple album does just that. Of course this might have been expected after the success of Personne ne le fera pour nous, five years ago already. We should have known, after fifteen years of a flawless career. For those who don't know them yet, Mendelson have a very special status on the French rock scene. Few artists can claim to both meet their true audience and thrill the critics by offering music as uncompromising, honest and non- conforming as theirs. Their previous double album, already a challenge in itself-it was released entirely independently- featured tracks whose duration boldly ranged from one to eleven minutes. Today, Mendelson have decided to go even further, with no less than three discs gathered in this unclassifiable set. It is a vicious, exacting triple album, a real extremist milestone with unbelievable accuracy, strength and authority: this fifth album is an absolutely unique object.
