If you think it’s impossible to blend orchestral music, death metal, and French chanson then you either don’t know enough about music or you simply have a disturbing lack of faith. But do not worry, today we have an artist who will make a believer out of you!
Enter the colorful yet wistful world of Orphée Noah’s music, a self-described hopeless romantic and musician/producer who grew up all over France in a musical family, with his mother Elisabeth Kontomanou, a French jazz singer, and his brothers. He spent his childhood traveling and performing around the world before moving to Sweden with his father. This fairly unique environment resulted in an excellent multi-instrumentalist with a sensitive heart and wildly creative mind that deftly takes you to soundscapes you’ve never been in.
“Worlds that are clashing, opposites and paradoxes.
The most organic meeting the most technological.
Mozart, Tyler, the Creator, Ella Fitzgerald, and Metallica.
How do you play piano as a robot? How do you know an AI is crying?
Welcome.”
Orphée’s newest song is the sweetest thing I’ve heard this year and you’ll probably agree as well. “Never Ending” is a tender, sparkly piano-centric ballad that in spite of its wistful and homey melody, goes into unexpectedly deep places, the deep vastness of our endless universe.
“It’s an old cliché but it’s true. We are made out of 97% stardust. Our entire bodies and organs were once created inside of a star. Knowing that helped me lose my fear of death aka fear of living.”
Orphée’s Never Ending is a contemplative reflection on the infinite nature of certain things in life, such as love and the universe. The song poses questions about the boundlessness of emotions, like how many words or walks it takes to touch someone’s heart. The chorus draws a parallel between the infinite nature of the stars and our own existence as “stardust”, emphasizing this notion that some things are beyond measure or comprehension. The song also touches on the desire for a sense of belonging and the fear of being out of place.
The song comes wrapped neatly into a whimsically fun and somewhat absurd music video that nevertheless manages to be quite touching. First, we’re treated to a shot of Orphée himself sitting in a wheelchair with a comically stereotypical full-body cast, and after he places some flowers in a statue next to him, a beautiful and never-ending love story starts to unfold.
