Manu Lanvin – Man On A Mission
Gel Productions
13 songs time – 48:13
Manu Lanvin is a French singer-songwriter-guitarist of great renown in his home country. Here he delivers music that ranges from singer-songwriter to rock, R&B, pop and blues in various configurations. He co-wrote twelve of the thirteen songs. The various musicians support his engaging songs in an imaginative way. His guitar playing tends to be in the mix, while coming out for the occasional solo. There is a hint of an accent in his pleasingly gravelly vocals.
He dives right in with the refreshing rocker “Just Need Me”, that includes Moog bass from Nicolas Bonniere. It quickly kicks into the poppy “I Can’t Get Enough Of You”, complete with “Ew-Ah” backing vocals and horns. More in the pop vein with “Did U See Judy?”. Manu unleashes some biting guitar licks on this one. The organ accents by Bennett Holland on “Change My Ways” are infectious. It is an engaging slow-burn ballad. Also more guitar antics. “I Got The Blues” comments on life’s big and minor travails to a relentless beat.
A tender reminiscence of his life is “Savigny-Sur-Orge”. Acoustic guitar and mellotron strings lend themselves to the melancholy mood. After describing childhood memories, did his mother suffer physical abuse at the hands of his father? The forceful “What’s The Matter With U?” is a seemingly lightly veiled tale of a certain orange-tinged politician. Slide guitar powers the tale of a bad boy on “Saving Angel”, as the narrator lists his bad vices. Manu reaches down deep for the pleading vocal on “I Don’t Wanna Say Goodbye”. He delivers some brief blues-rock guitar on “Could It Be Love?”. We’re taken back to a fifties-style rocker with “Make It Right”, complete with hand claps and Chuck Berry guitar riffing. The title song “Man On A Mission” is a hard charger with Moog, piano, farfisa organ and Mick Ravassat on slide guitar. “Une Nuit”French for One Night, has French lyrics with no translation in the enclosed booklet, but it sounds sincere none-the-less.
Manu and company have achieved a well thought out and realized slice of honest and heartfelt music. The production by Manu and Nikko Bonniere is spot on. The creativeness makes this a worthy addition to any music lover’s collection.
