Sébastien Tellier Releases an Album About Chores

NEWS | June 3, 2020

Photo: Sébastien Tellier © Valentine Reinhardt..

In "Domesticated," Sébastien Tellier packs a one-two punch. Given the context, the album comes at a perfect time. Plus, it means that one of the French scene's biggest composers is back to business.

Six years have elapsed since L'Aventura. 2,190 days later, 3 studio locations and a family move, the bearded pop star unveils his sixth album. In the interim, the prolific musician also started a side project with keyboardist John Kirby and drummer Daniel Stricker (formerly of the Midnight Juggernauts), composed movie soundtracks (Marie et les Naufragés), produced Dita Von Teese's first album, and spent the rest of his time with his wife and children.

Domesticated brings Tellier back — to his electronic love affairs, drawing a link between his new work and 2008's Sexuality, as well as to his reflections on human nature. Following politics, sex, religion, and childhood, the pop star turns his gaze to household chores — his new muses. Indeed, they're universally relevant: "Who gets out of doing chores, besides dictators?" he wondered aloud in an interview with French magazine Les Inrockuptibles.

From "A Ballet" to "Won," these eight titles have nothing to do with the chill tunes you might put on to clean or even just relax, cozied up on the sofa. Domesticated is the work of an artist who's opening the doors of his home to welcome the bravest, most unexpected and sophisticated of the francophone scene. Nk.F (PNL's sound engineer), Varnish La Piscine and the late Philippe Zdar provide dynamic features while the bespectacled romantic creates fascinating arrangements with synthesizers, sax, and sunny melodies. Twelve years after "Roche," it's a timely reminder that Sébastien Tellier does summer better than anybody.