Edwige – Tout Est Dieu
From Edwige – Energie, Lumière, Amour
Released on Reprise Records, 1976, France

A religious record ? Well, the lyrics of many songs on this album are very evocative, and especially the lyrics of Tout Est Dieu (Everything Is God), but Energie, Lumière, Amour is not your common Christian private press record. Indeed, it was released on a major label, Reprise Records, created by Frank Sinatra and owned by Warner, and most importantly, it features the cream of 1970’s French musical industry : Jean Schultheis on the drums and arrangements by Rachid Bahri and the mighty Gabriel Yared.

Speaking of arrangements, on Tout Est Dieu, they are absolutely gorgeous… And also quite surprising considering that the backbone of this 8 minute long song is a sanza, before it is joined by percussions which sound like tablas, a guitar and some crepuscular chords of piano. The song climaxes with the appearance of the strings, brilliantly orchestrated by Yared, and the whole thing reminds of Jean-Claude Vannier‘s most contemplative moments (such as on Serge Gainsbourg‘s masterpiece, Melody Nelson or Vannier‘s L’Enfant Assassin des Mouches).

As a matter of fact, Edwige Nisenboim started her musical career in 1969 with a 45 arranged by Jean-Claude Vannier ! She would then release a quite interesting second 7″ in 1973 on Reprise, but nothing that would really prefigure the bliss of her only Long Play, released 3 years later.

Unfortunately for her, it looks like the record was a flop (considering how hard it is to find a copy). The complete lack of information about Edwige Nisenboim adds to the twilight atmosphere which surrounds this album. It’s only fair to finally give Edwige‘s most stunning song some attention, 40 years after it was released.