Beatrice Martin is a classically trained pianist who graced us with her debut album under the moniker, Coeur de Pirate, in 2008. Martin's composition style is equal parts charming, upbeat and technically flawless. Her music is strongly driven by the piano, accompanied by subtle percussion. Her voice has a unique texture to it, striking an elegant balance between simplicity and colour. Her knowledge of the classics comes through just as strongly as her immersion in the current culture. Intricate piano melodies meet equally involved lyrics, executed with equal sensitivity and excellence.Couer de Pirate's self-titled album makes for really easy listening. It's a lovely landscape of sweet lyricism and satisfyingly melodic instrumentation. It is not without a healthy dose of melancholy, but this is tempered with a lighthearted sound that gives a hopefulness to the existential questions posed. Another pertinent description of the album is to say that it is nostalgic, bringing to mind images of childhood simplicities with a uniquely French savoir faire. It is during Commes des Enfants that this theme is at it's clearest. Martin explores the struggle between the head and the heart in matters of love, and longs for the simplicity of childhood with a striking melody and a strong narrative, enveloped, of course, in her signature approach to the piano. In Ensemble, Martin ponders the unravelling of a romantic relationship in a fast paced, upbeat song, delicately berating her beloved for the person he has become since they first met. The songstress's style is wonderful in a way that makes you wonder how anyone could resist her. La Vie Est Ailleurs suggests it's listeners escape reality with magical thinking and Pour un Infidele is a strange take on faithfulness and romantic love. The band subtly supports Martin's vocal and keys in each song with dreamy guitar riffs, drums, wind instruments and synthesizers. Perhaps what I like most about Coeur de Pirate's original album is the world it creates as you listen. It is beautiful in a way that not many things are beautiful - weaving simplicity together with intricacy and approaching complex thoughts with a gentle pensiveness. Martin's voice itself is honeyish, both pure and mature, trained and contemporary. The album is a classic, far outliving its release in 2008. Being drawn to the melancholy, C'etait Salement Romantique is my personal favourite, gentle and dreamlike as it welcomes strings, clarinet, guitar and drums into its composition. But the piano, of course, is the highlight of the album, creating beautiful moments of both light and dark throughout Coeur de Pirate's debut album.
