If you’ve been paying attention to the Top 31 over these last 10 years, you’ll have noticed a strong affinity for indie pop that makes you want to jump up and down and pound your fist. Starting with my very first #1 (Passion Pit’s Manners), and then again with CHVRCHES at #1 in 2015 with Every Open Eye, I love me some catchy, synth-fueled pop. 2018 was a good year for this genre, as witnessed by the appearance of Wye Oak at #9 and Superorganism at #18, but now we can add an even better album to that mix: the sophomore album from French singer/songwriter Héloïse Letissier, otherwise known as Christine and the Queens, or Chris for short (which also happens to be the name of said album).

Letissier is a truly global singer, in that she has released both of her albums in their native French as well as in English. Some of the songs blend together French and English, because this is pop music and voice is just another instrument, really. I’ve not yet heard her 2014 debut, Chaleur humaine, but it sounds like I should rectify that soon given the acclaim that was heaped upon it by The Guardian, The Independent, Mojo, and NME (who all named it one of the best of 2014). I can’t get enough of this new album, though, in both languages.

When I first heard “Damn (what must a woman do)” on KEXP, I quickly reached for my phone to try and Shazam it, thinking it was some new amazing previously unreleased Michael Jackson bombshell of a song. Based on the power of that one song (which, unfortunately, doesn’t have a video, but you can listen to it here), I picked up the full length Chris, which comes as a double album — first the English versions and then the French. While her first album was recorded fully in French and then had the English words injected into it, Chris was written bilingual-ly from the beginning. If the song didn’t work in both English and French, it was reworked until it did, to amazing effect. At times, Letissier likes to use syllables and pieces of meaningless words in her songs, using her voice as an additional instrument rather than to convey any sort of overt meaning. A form of skat for the pop generation.

Be sure to watch and listen to the above video, and then explore some other videos from the album:

“La marcheuse”
“5 dollars”
“Doesn’t Matter (Voleur de Soleil)” or in English “Doesn’t Matter”
“Damn, dis-moi” (shown above) or in English “Girlfriend”

Letissier is only going to get bigger. She’s working towards taking over the world, and you‘d better get on this train now, lest you be left behind.

__________________________________________

7. Wanderer by Cat Power
8. Tell Me How You Really Feel by Courtney Barnett
9. The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs by Wye Oak
10. Ruins by First Aid Kit
11. Cocoa Sugar by Young Fathers
12. Loner by Caroline Rose
13. Big Red Machine by Big Red Machine
14. I’ll Be Your Girl by The Decemberists
15. The More I Sleep the Less I Dream by We Were Promised Jetpacks
16. Joy as an Act of Resistance by IDLES
17. Hell-On by Neko Case
18. Superorganism by Superorganism
19. Living in Extraordinary Times by James
20. Thank You for Today by Death Cab for Cutie
21. Black Panther: The Album by Kendrick Lamar
22. Suspiria (Music for the Luca Guadagnino Film) by Thom Yorke
23. Merrie Land by The Good, the Bad & the Queen
24. Room 25 by Noname
25. WARM by Jeff Tweedy
26. God's Favorite Customer by Father John Misty
27. Vessel by Frankie Cosmos
28. For Ever by Jungle
29. Twerp Verse by Speedy Ortiz
30. Remain in Light by Angélique Kidjo
31. This One’s for the Dancer & This One’s for the Dancer’s Bouquet by Moonface

Subscribe to the 2018 Bacon Top 31 Apple Music playlist
2009-2017 Top 31s