Platonic Challenge

Listening Post 7. Can a man and a woman be Just Friends? The question has launched countless novels, films and songs—some that make us laugh or cry and others that induce yawns. Bastien Lanza, a 26-year-old singer-songwriter, has turned this human-chemistry concept into a three-minute musical masterpiece (video 1). The title song of his debut album, 2h du mat’ (Two in the morning), is not only rich in desire, ambiguity, and restraint, but also a dazzling mixture of voice, guitar and melody, somewhere between French chanson and folk. It is also the sonic summit of a lofty range of songs that touch on major and minor keys of life and love, from the poetry of La violoncelliste (The Cellist, video 2); to the pining blues of Ça ne saurait tarder (It Won’t Be Long); to the sprightly plucked strings and self-deprecation that accompany Super Belle. And then there’s La fête est finie (The Party’s Over, video 3), a coda to the album and to the title track; on another album La fête might have stood out more, but here second string still strikes a lovely chord. Lanza was mentored by Francis Cabrel, the greatest French singer-songwriter of the past 30 years—who also makes an appearance on the album in A l’air libre (In the Open Air). They are in good company with one another. (My Major Company)