French songwriter’s first appearance on the nu-Jukebox…
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Joshua Minsoo Kim: Much like the songs on Camille’s Le fil, “Fontaine de lait” features an intentional sound design component that’s as thoughtful as ever, strategically used to capture the song’s lyrics–the title translates to “Fountain of Milk,” and this is indeed a song about nursing a child. Camille’s voice lightly wraps around you while her periodic puffs of air focus your attention and alleviate any worry. With you now swaddled, the synths flicker and alternate to gently rock you back and forth.
[7]
Adaora Ede: ‘Tis indeed a fountain of milk — Camille’s style is smooth and easily lapped up in the form of a bare-bones chamber pop song. My four year of high school French helped me little in understanding the meaning of the song given the minimalist space synth outlay, but it may or may not be deliberate, a post-musical experiment in what happens when you mush certain reverberations and noises together. And it’s all held up beautifully by the slightly balladic, kinda-Gregorian adlibbing and choral work.
[8]
Tim de Reuse: Aggressively sweet, full of mouth percussion and breaths and dainty synthwork — I think the pitter-pattering “da da da”s might push it a little too close to a twee car commercial soundtrack. Everything else, though, is clever; in particular, the crispness of her performance allows her to have a great deal of fun with her wordplay, threading phrases like “Aller là / Alléluia / Aller où il est où il luit” through disorienting hairpin turns before they finally land.
[7]
Kalani Leblanc: “Fontaine de lait” is almost an imitation of what the rest of the world think of Parisians–smooth, chic, and probably sharper than you. The song starts atop a lush bass mountain and trickles down faster than you’d think into a stripped yet still effective version of itself. Camille’s last “dadum” leaves your ears cleaner than they were before listening.
[9]
Will Adams: It’s hard not to enjoy a song that’s as flighty as Imogen Heap’s “Little Bird,” the way it floats past different keys, never landing on solid ground. That Camille builds her crystalline arrangement so gently makes the sudden choral outro a bit jarring, but overall “Fontaine de lait” is hushed pop at its most decorated.
[7]
Katherine St Asaph: Both ornate — the flutes and vocals are shaped like filigree — and slippery, lyrics curling out of your grasp just as you register them (likely why I always forget how much I like Camille’s records when they’re not on). Femininity as finely crafted details, as fountains of milk: a centuries-old aesthetic, but so few people in pop (alt-, art- or otherwise) really try it nowadays.
[7]
Iain Mew: It progresses a bit like going through the moment of vertigo that comes with drifting off unexpectedly on a train, then catching yourself with a roll of the neck back upwards, and deciding to just go along with the beckoning of rest. I think I mean this as a recommendation.
[6]
Alfred Soto: A lovely arabesque, a kiss of perfumed air, perhaps longer than it should be.
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