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Reference music

I'm aware of the the whole song's genre being alternative. But my interest lies in the interlude part only, with non-english vocals (I'm not aware of the language). I've heard this style of music in movies and games, especially the ones based in the early 20th century. I want to know how to find similar music.

The part I'm interested is from 00:00 to 00:12

Thank you.

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2 Answers 2

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The language is French. At first I thought it might be a sample of an earlier song, but according to Genius it expresses the same meaning as the English lyric, implying it was newly recorded as part of this song.

The general style is one that has been popular in France over quite a long extended period of time. Compare "La Vie En Rose" (Edith Piaf, 1935), "Le Premiere Bonheur du Jour" (Françoise Hardy, 1963) and "Quelqu'un m'a dit" (Carla Bruni, 2002). As Tetsujin mentioned, it's typically called "chanson," although that's a very general descriptor --"nouvelle chanson" is probably more accurate, and the 60's and 70's era is probably closest to the sound you hear in that interlude.

Many chansons have been successfully re-recorded in other languages, such as "Seasons in the Sun" ("Le Moribond") and "Love is Blue" ("L'amour est bleu"). But there's a certain feel to them that is difficult to translate. They are quite deliberately showcases for the distinctive sound of the French language. However, they do have similarities to contemporaneous non-French styles --such as 1930s jazz for Piaf and 1960s folk for Hardy. Compare, for instance, Billie Holiday's "PS I Love You" or the Mamas and Papas "Once Was A Time". Where you take things depends quite a bit on what aspect of the style appeals to you.

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  • Firstly, thanks for the answer. Secondly, is kind of music only performed by the French or any others too? Aug 22, 2017 at 14:29
  • @SwapnilRastogi I added a new section to my answer to respond. Aug 22, 2017 at 14:53
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I can't say I listened right through - it's more pop than indie for my taste - I just tried to figure out which bit you meant. A time-stamp would be useful in your question.

It doesn't really change genre, it's just a 'drop section'.
Overall, it sounds vaguely 90s like the Cranberries, Dido, Portishead or even Garbage, but a lot of people have done that 'leave out the drums, or make them less important' as a style in itself; Aqualung, Blue Nile, even Radiohead or Coldplay have their moments like that.
More pop, female, maybe London Grammar or even Haim.

If I totally missed the point, then maybe you need to tighten up what exactly it is about that bit of the track that draws you.

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  • Apologize for missing out on the time stamp. I've edited to add the timestamp. But again, I think you're and the whole song is just one genre and confusing the initial part with something else. Aug 21, 2017 at 7:33
  • OK, so you mean the intro rather than the interlude [though they're actually the same thing in this case]. It could be considered 'chanson', a French term which really just means 'song'.
    – Tetsujin
    Aug 21, 2017 at 7:56

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