Anne Pigalle – Everything Could Be So Perfect...

Anne Pigalle – Everything Could Be So Perfect...

Originally released in 1985 on ZTT Records, Anne Pigalle’s Everything Could Be So Perfect... is an unusual and highly distinctive debut that brings together French chanson, cabaret, jazz-pop and the sophisticated art-pop aesthetic of the ZTT label. With its theatrical atmosphere, romantic melancholy and Parisian flavour, the album occupies a fascinating space between traditional French song and the adventurous pop production of mid-1980s Britain.

Pigalle’s music has a strong sense of European cabaret and chanson, but Everything Could Be So Perfect... is very much a product of its era and its association with ZTT. “Why Does It Have To Be This Way...”, “Via Vagabond” and “Looking For Love” establish the album’s elegant, slightly decadent character, while “He! Stranger” became one of its key early singles. Contemporary Music Week highlighted both “Why Does It Have To Be This Way” and “He! Stranger”, describing the album as a sonorous, jazzy debut.

The second side becomes even more atmospheric, moving through the languid “Intermission (The Gods Are Bored)”, the evocative “Souvenir D'Un Paris”, the dramatic “A Crack In The Ocean” and the beautifully titled “The 1000 Colours Waltz.” The songwriting credits are shared between Pigalle and Nick Plytas, with the album produced by Luis Jardim, while the wider ZTT connection places it firmly within the adventurous British pop culture surrounding artists such as Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Propaganda and The Art Of Noise.

For collectors of ZTT Records, 1980s alternative pop, French chanson, art pop and sophisticated jazz-influenced music, Everything Could Be So Perfect... is a particularly distinctive album. It is also an interesting reminder that the ZTT catalogue extended well beyond the label's better-known electronic and experimental releases, embracing artists with much more theatrical, European and cabaret-oriented styles.

Side A

1. Why Does It Have To Be This Way...
2. Via Vagabond
3. Looking For Love
4. He! Stranger

Side B

1. Intermission (The Gods Are Bored)
2. Souvenir D'Un Paris
3. A Crack In The Ocean
4. The 1000 Colours Waltz