With environmental concerns having always run through his body of work, CharlElie Couture has decided to shine a new light, through Projet Bleu Vert, on his lyrics that celebrate a love of nature and the necessity of a form of degrowth.
A keen observer armed with a poetic eye, CharlElie Couture did not wait for official reports or headline news to sense that the living world was in trouble. As early as his first album in 1978, he sang “Le jardin de mon oncle,” a song featured on this record, which invites us to remain clear-sighted about the future (Projet) of the seas (Blue) and the lands (Green).
All proceeds from this album will go to France Nature Environnement. It consists of nine tracks selected from his discography, plus one previously unreleased song and a poem by Paul Watson that CharlElie Couture has set to music. Like a good captain, he wanted from the outset to create a team of voices to “carry” these songs anew, turning them into duets to make them even stronger. The album features longtime friends (Jean-Louis Aubert, Angélique Kidjo, Yannick Noah, Cali, Kent…) alongside newer collaborators (René Nunes, Pursang, Papillon Paravel, Souleymane Diamanka…), as well as his daughter Yamée — “all friends.”
If the genesis of Projet Bleu Vert was an obvious one, almost a cry, the decision to donate all profits to France Nature Environnement (a federation bringing together more than 6,000 associations) was immediate. CharlElie Couture the painter entrusted the album artwork to his friend Michel Granger, known for the iconic covers of Jean-Michel Jarre, who offered a striking image, in shades of green and blue, of a planet held in good hands.
To go all the way, the LP itself will be pressed on environmentally friendly bio-vinyl.
RIYL's: Bernard Lavilliers, Alain Bashung, Jacques Higelin, Louis Chedid.
