French Musical Icon Sylvie Vartan Releases 50th Studio Album ‘Merci pour le regard’

She’s a musical icon in the French speaking world, releasing a staggering fifty studio albums since debuting in the musical world in 1962. The Bulgarian born talent follows up her 2018 Johnny Halliday cover album Avec toi … with a new original collection dubbed Merci pour le regard created in partnership with songwriters Léonard Lasry, Joseph d’Anvers and Clara Luciani.

Pre-release album track Le Bleu de la Mer Noire opens with Sylvie crooning “We reached the estuary / And braved the sobs / From the sky and its anger / We were afraid we were hot,” with her elegant vocals shining against beautifully melancholic piano tones. The full album delves into themes of childhood, love and abandonment – with this track in particular centring on the idea of exile from the world.

The album’s orchestral arrangements come from the talented Philippe Russo, with Sylvie noting: “I think this album is really one of my best, everything is coherent and each song corresponds to me.” Check out the full tracklist below:

1. Le bleu de la mer noire
2. Tout bas, tout bas
3. Les vents contraires
4. On s’aime encore, mais autrement
5. Avec tous ces Ne me quitte pas
6. Merci pour le regard
7. J’emporterai
8. A deux pas de vous
9. Une fille attend
10. Ce jour-la
11. Une derniere danse
12. Du cote de ma peine
13. Ma tendre enfance
14. Tout reste a dire

The album is available now in numerous formats from white vinyl editions to collector’s box sets. You can also stream it below: