Friday's French music break, Camille - "Que je t'aime"

Friday's French music break this week is a song you might well recognise.

"QUE JE T'AIME" - block caps obligatory in the original recording by Johnny Hallyday in 1969 - is one of the French rocker's many signature tunes.

But a new version released on YouTube last month and available now on download transports the song to a different...er..."universe" (in the sense that the music industry seems to use when describing an artist's "style").

It's by singer-songwriter Camille and while the obvious sultriness of the lyrics remains, her interpretation comes across as far more poetic, tender and altogether much more sensual than Hallyday's earhole- blasting rendition.

Camille (screenshot from Taratata interview, October 2011)

Camille's voice is one which she has used almost as an additional instrument on each of her four studio albums - including the latest, "Ilo Veyou", released in October 2011 - and in live performances (see this one of her singing "Ta douleur" on France 2's music programme Taratata for example).

The remake might be a somewhat unpredictable choice for the 34-year-old but at the same time it's entirely in keeping with her ability to deliver something unexpected.

Her music and style has always defied categorisation, making her probably one of France's most gifted - and dare it be said - musically intelligent popular artists.

"Que je t'aime"  is more than delightful, it's an acoustic jewel - revisited.

If you like what she has done to it, then you'll be able to catch her at one of the many summer festivals or in concert during her national tour which runs until March next year including two dates at Olympia in Paris in October (details can be found on her official website).

For now though, here's the teaser available of her interpretation of "Que je t'aime". Sadly there's no official video yet and the visuals are non-existant.

It doesn't really matter too much though.

If you want to compare and contrast to the original by Johnny Hallyday, click on this link.

Happy listening - and have a great weekend.