SCHOOS,BENJAMIN - Profession Chanteur (Best Of) (Sealed) (CD)

Belgian chanteur Benjamin Schoos is a man of action, as his wonderful new best of compilation ably demonstrates. The 13 songs here represent the three albums he’s released under his real name since 2012: China Man vs Chinagirl (2012); Beau Futur (2014) and Night Music Love Songs (2016). During that time the musical pioneer has assumed the mantle of - among other kinetic occupations - a wrestler, an astronaut, a stuntman, an adventurer, and last but not least (though not strictly a job unless the world’s oldest profession is your m?tier) a lover. Profession chanteur is an album about doing from a singer who’s never simply been a singer. He’s not just an artist but an impresario, the founder and head honcho of Belgian label Freaksville (presiding over a musical family of unparalleled creativity), an in-demand producer, a radio show host, an actor, an illustrator and all-round Action Man to boot. Here though, we get - in full technicolor - Benjamin Schoos singer-songwriter par excellence. “Prolifique et romantique” said French weekly Les Inrocks recently, not to mention “un peu fou” (a little crazy). Schoos has also proved himself to be a songwriter of exceptional talent at a time when there’s a proliferation of solo artists, so many of them identikit and in thrall to chastening TV talent shows. The Seraing-born singer mines the chansons fran?aises populaires, the production values of Phil Spector and David Axelrod, the orchestral flourishes of Jean-Claude Vannier and the frisson of fabulous Gainsbourg duets from the 60s and 70s, and then turns it all into something new and distinctive. His solo career thus far has taken us through a conceptual martial arts journey, a thrilling space odyssey and the amorous mise-en-scene of his last offering, Night Music Love Songs; the lush strings and cupid harps of ‘Je ne vois que vous’ and its divine sequel ‘Derniere danse’ (both with Laetitia Sadier), the lushly resplendent and atmospheric ‘Une fille on or’ and ‘Un parfum de nostalgie’, via the art deco futuristic fantasies of ‘La grande aventure’ and ‘Le cascadeur’. Other highlights include a duet with April March (‘J'ai essay? de t'aimer’) and the inimitable wrestling chanson ‘Profession catcheur’, from which the compilation takes its titular inspiration. Naturally this is not au revoir or le fin, it is as much a collection of thoughts as it is a collection of Schoos’ finest solo moments so far. Expect plenty of action in future, but for now, take time out to reflect on a job well done.