Ipecac is honoured to release the new album from legendary musician, composer and arranger, Jean Claude Vannier. Jean Claude Vannier et son orchestre de mandolines, out on Feb 14th, 2025 is a playful album of beautiful reveries composed on mandolin and accordion, that are both poetic and unrestrained. Today, the new track “La 2CV rouillée” (“The rusty 2CV”) is shared.
About the new track, Vannier comments;
I’ve always dreamed of writing for a mandolin orchestra – the instrument’s tremors seemed apt to expose romantic and sentimental melodies. It brings back old memories.
On Sundays, my father used to take us to the countryside in his 2cv.
It’s a funny car, with the slightest change in speed, a flick of the brake or the gas pedal, and it rocks like a duck on the water.
During these drives, I was unable to see the landscape because I was seasick.
My father was an inventor, and had come up with a rudimentary air bag that went off at the slightest jolt.
Those rides in the countryside were a nightmare for me, and I now avoid trips in the 2CV…
The album title translates as Jean Claude Vannier and his mandolin orchestra, and this marks the first time that the ever-creative composer has written specifically for the mandolin. The album features fellow enthusiast Vincent Beer-Demander, whose mandolin is multiplied by an orchestra to form a singular sound palette, carefully combined with the accordion of Grégory Daltin.
Mike Patton, who collaborated with Vannier on the 2019 release, Corpse Flower, has this to say about getting to put out his new album on Ipecac, ”Jean Claude is a dear friend, mentor and a wonderfully gifted and decorated composer. Read: LEGEND. To have worked with him is an unmitigated honour. His writing and arrangements have influenced an ocean of artists and I call myself one of the lucky ones who have crossed his path. He was writing ground-breaking stuff before I was born. He has affected me deeply and I’m forever grateful and in AWE.”
The album was created as a music score for a non-existent silent film, and tells the love story of a young boy we follow through time. The third single tells us more of the story…
There it was
The rusty 2CV screaming
Horrible mechanics with out-of-step gears
Slamming bumpers
Cracking bolts
Gutted carcass
Breathless engine
Howls of twisted connecting rods
Dislocated crankshafts
Moaning of disjointed ball joints
Stamped pipes
Squealing anti-roll bars
Clamor of breathless valves
Cracked fan
Splash of drifting floats.
Jean Claude Vannier, whom the press refer to as “the rare bird”, has worked over the past 60 years most famously with Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, as well as artists such as Beck and Sean Lennon. He’s worked on countless soundtracks, released six solo albums and is a French pop-culture icon who’s composed for Eurovision, directed videos, exhibited paintings, hosted radio shows and published short stories.
This new album features mandolin virtuoso Vincent Beer-Demander, who has won multiple awards and collaborated with the French National Orchestra, Czeske Philharmonic, Mid-Atlantic Symphonic Orchestra and hundreds more around the world. Sounding like nothing else that either Demander nor Vannier has done before.
Also featured is Grégory Daltin, whose accordion playing brings another dimension to this beautiful album.
Jean Claude Vannier et son orchestre de mandolines track listing:
01 – Moi, ma mandoline (Me, my mandolin)
02 – Comme les enfants savent aimer (How children know to love) [listen]
03 – La 2CV disparaît au coin de la rue (The 2CV disappears around the corner)
04 – Perdue dans la cité (Lost in the city) [listen]
05 – Il y avait des éléphants (There were elephants)
06 – À cause de mes problèmes (Because of my troubles)
07 – Une séance photo sous les arcades (A photoshoot under the arcades)
08 – Belle à pleurer (Beautiful enough to cry over)
09 – Danse des maillots de bain (Swimsuit dance)
10 – Nos regards se sont croisés (Our eyes crossed)
11 – La 2CV rouillée (The rusty 2CV) [listen]
12 – Un petit bout de verre cassé (A small piece of broken glass)
13 – Les feux arrière de l’ambulance (Ambulance taillights)