From 2002 to 2015, Aurélien Merle recorded 5 albums of original songs and often performed on stage solo (opening acts for Bertrand Belin and Arno), as a duo with cellist Magali Boyer or as a trio with Jean-Baptiste Falgueyrettes on double bass and Nathalie Pizette on vocals. After a first demo album in 2002, "Ceci est un Merle", 4 albums followed: "Le jeu des balcons mal fermés" (2005), "For words, perhaps" (2006) based on poems by WB Yeats, "Vert indolent" (2010) and finally "Remerle" (2015) praised by french cultural press.
In 2011, Aurélien Merle also brought together the friends of Nathalie Pizette, who passed away in 2007, whether they were singers or not, to pay tribute to her in an album co-written with Jolyon Derfeuil: "Chansons pour une chanteuse". In 2018, with Clémence Monnier on the piano, he performed a recital of songs by William Sheller, of which there are 3 video excerpts: "Nicolas", "J'en avais envie aussi" and "Le temps d'une heure de ciel bleu".
Available as CD, LP, digital and streaming
VIDEOS :
REMERLE
“French song that is both cozy and experimental”
Ranked 66th out of 100 albums of 2015 by LES INROCKS
REnewed, REwritten, REdisplaced, a collection of contrasting songs: Aurélien Merle plays folk, classical, and electric guitars; and the arrangements are most often led by the percussion and African and Middle Eastern instruments of Jean-Daniel Botta and Laurent Sériès, and by many friends, including their companions from the Le Saule label. And sometimes even, all in chorus. In short, the least solo of his solo albums. On the contrary, it is a record of friendships, inhabited by the goodwill and beautiful souls who have surrounded Aurélien Merle for several years.
1. CARREAUX TREMBLENT
2. APPEAUX ET APPÂTS
3. 80 AB
4. GÉNIE
5. LE RÉVEIL
6. LA CONVERSATION
7. GRAND CERF
8. VOYAGE SANS BRIDGE
9. CHIC AUX BUISSONS
10. LA FUGUE
11. LES GESTES INUTILES
12. OKINAWA
Lyrics and music: Aurélien Merle
except "80 AB": lyrics Pierre Barouh / music Areski Belkacem
and "Voyage sans bridge", "Chic aux buissons" and "Okinawa": these songs were created from letters and postcards from strangers, on the occasion of the "Correspondances" residency at the Frères Poussière theater in Aubervilliers in September 2013 with the Le Saule label.
Recorded between November 2013 and February 2015 at the Abermarle studio in Augères and in Paris
Remastered in 2023 by Cyril Harrison (mix) and Julien Grandjean (master)
Vocals, guitars and accordion: Aurélien Merle
Double bass, gembri, flute and harmonium: Jean-Daniel Botta
Percussion, zarb, vahlia, doudouk and flute: Laurent Sériès
Cello and choirs: Magali Boyer
Charengo and choirs: Marion Cousin
Spinet and choirs: Clémence Monnier
Flute and choirs: Anibal Sierra
Clarinet, electric organ and choirs: Matthieu Ferrandez
Bouzouki and balafon: Antoine Loyer
Guitar: Philippe Crab
Various instruments and choirs: Borja Flames, Léonore Boulanger
VIDEOS :
Available as CD, digital and streaming
VERT INDOLENT
“A mature work, exploring the intimate with kid gloves.”
A DÉCOUVRIR ABSOLUMENT
Marked by mourning, including the mourning of love, this album is a collection of songs and instrumentals with an assumed melancholy, conceived as a real walk with its pauses, its reprises and its wanderings. It is a short album comprising 3 instrumentals and 7 songs, including 2 written with Jolyon Derfeuil for Nathalie Pizette. The songs "C'est cousu" and "Un doigt sur la bouche" were intended for her and Aurélien Merle decided to add them to his repertoire and to perform them in her place. "Grosse fleur" is also a portrait song dedicated to her. The mourning of love is also evoked through the songs "Un arbre" and "Un indécis", more autobiographical.
1. INTRO
2. UN ARBRE
3. GROSSE FLEUR
4. L'HOMME TROUÉ
5. INTERMÈDE I
6. C'EST COUSU
7. UN INDÉCIS
8. UN DOIGT SUR LA BOUCHE
9. INTERMÈDE II
10. LE RÉVEIL
Lyrics and music: Aurélien Merle
except "C'est cousu" and "Un doigt sur la bouche": lyrics by Jolyon Derfeuil
Recorded in Angers by Benoît Lancelot in July 2009, by Gonzalo Campo in April 2021, by Jacques Cohen in June 2022 and by Antoine Desrats from July 2022 to September 2023
Remastered in 2024 by Cyril Harrison (mix) and Julien Grandjean (master)
Guitars, vocals, keyboards and programming: Aurélien Merle
Cello: Antoine Desrats
Choir: Florent Mateo
Double bass: Jean-Daniel Botta
Violin: Aurélie Branger
Drums: Gonzalo Campo
Bass: Florent Beillard
Choir: Nolwenn Camenen
Clarinet: Irène Brunet
FOR WORDS, PERHAPS
“A very beautiful folk album in the great tradition of Anglo-Saxon minstrels, from Nick Drake to John Cale. ” ZICORAMA
This English-language album is a collection of folk songs in the pure Anglo-Saxon tradition: more North American for its sometimes blues, country or jazz colorings, more English in its pop side and its cello and double bass arrangements. 13 poems by William Butler Yeats became 13 songs, including 2 duets with Nathalie Pizette, composed almost without realizing it, as a recreation during the recording of the songs of the album "Le jeu des balcons mal fermés".
1. THREE THINGS
2. THE MOTHER OF GOD
3. BEFORE THE WORLD WAS MADE
4. MAD AS THE MIST AND SNOW
5. THE CAT AND THE MOON
6. MEMORY
7. A SONG
8. A CRAZED GIRL
9. THE ROSE OF THE WORLD
10. A COAT
11. THE COLD HEAVEN
12. EPITAPH
13. THE LAMENTATION OF THE OLD PENSIONER
Texts: William Butler Yeats
Music and arrangements: Aurélien Merle
Recorded in 2005 and 2006 in Angers by Benoît Lancelot
Remastered in 2022 by Cyril Harrison (mix) and Julien Grandjean (master)
Guitar, piano, melodica and vocals: Aurélien Merle
Vocals: Nathalie Pizette
Double bass: Jean-Baptiste Falgueyrettes
Cello: Diane Jolibois
VIDEOS :
Available in CD, LP, digital and streaming
Available in CD, digital and streaming
LE JEU DES BALCONS MAL FERMÉS
“Is there still people to savor the unadorned voice and dreamy melodies of a young man who does not want to know that the fool triumphs nor that we lose love as soon as we won it?” MUZKAD
This album is a fake sad one. Or a fake happy, it's hard to decide. But it moves in disguise, that's for sure. Cobbled together in a student's room, this first real album exudes the obvious influences of its young author: sometimes Dominique A, sometimes Barbara, sometimes The Smiths, sometimes Divine Comedy. And the lyrics, of great modesty, go from lightness to gravity with impressionism.
1. MON HÉROS
2 PIEDS NUS
3. C'EST DIMANCHE
4. LA CANTATRICE FAUVE
5. LE PLUS BEL EFFET DU HASARD
6. PRISON
7. HUILE ET ENCRE
8. INTERLUDE
9. LA DERIVE
Written, composed and arranged by Aurélien Merle
Recorded between July 2004 and September 2005 in Angers
Guitar, piano, programming and vocals: Aurélien Merle
Vocals: Nathalie Pizette
Bass: Florent Beillard