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In France, people call one who falls in love very easily or is in love with many people at the same time a “CÒur d‰’artichaut‰” (which literally translates to artichoke heart). No one can be blamed of having a cÒur d‰’artichaut when it comes to Sebastien Tellier, as it‰’s almost impossible to not fall in love with him. Long hair, beard, sunglasses, cigarettes and synths: that‰’s pretty much what any man needs and what every woman wants.

Born and raised in France, Tellier is very well known within the French music community, as he‰’s not only a songwriter but also a multi-instrumentalist. He can be considered as a landmark to contemporary French music, to the extent that he even represented his home country on Eurovision 2008. Tellier started to be well known to the French pop music scene when he release his first studio album L’incroyable VÌ©ritÌ© back in 2001. Due to the success of the album and sexual pop cabaret sounds it has; he toured with the legendary French duo, Air, exposing him to a wider scene.

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His sophomore album, Politics, established him as the leading artist for French synth pop. “La Ritournelle‰” is probably his most famous song within the album and through out his whole career. I first heard this song when I was young and crazy in love during high school and it still makes me feel that way.

Even though there are several remixes of it, the original version is still the best: it‰’s a 7 minute long song with almost 4 minutes of intro and less than one minute of vocals. However, that‰’s all it takes for him to emit the most beautiful lyrics anyone could sing, but it sounds better coming off him. “Nothing‰’s going to change my love for you, I want to spend my life with you‰” or “Love is to share, mine is for you‰” are tiny verses so loaded with passion and love.

The combination between his French accent, incredible piano, killer bassline and suave beat make one of the most beautiful out there. If you want to see him perform it to its best, watch him smoke a cigarette and drink whiskey before he plays it at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Paris.

Sexuality is my favorite album by him though. Not only was the album followed by a remix album of each song but Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk also produced Sexuality. This album has a sexier approach to Tellier‰’s music, trying to step away from a more classical look and go back to Coke Miami 1980‰’s. Songs like “Kilometer‰Û, “Pomme‰” and “Look‰” expose Tellier‰’s curious sexuality, referencing even to some of Gainsbourg‰’s trademarks (orgasm samples).

“Divine‰” has a more playful/upbeat vibe but still with this tempting erotic need from Tellier. The album delivers perfectly a listenable sexual unrest, even setting a stage to be a potential soundtrack for a porn movie.

His last album, L‰’Aventura, full inspired on Bossa Nova and Brazilian culture, shows a less sexual but still highly tropical erotic Tellier. “L‰’Adulte‰” and “Allers vers le solei‰” are songs perfectly made for a beach bar in Rio, as Sebastien respects the exotic sound/drumming that comes with Bossa Nova but he can‰’t leave behind his French musical base. Additionally, the album is purely sang and written in French, compared to his other albums that contain songs in English and Italian.

Tellier embodies what many artists currently lack, taking the risk to experiment with sound. Just as Gainsbourg, Tellier defies any taboo and just produces and composes what he pleases. Maybe his songs are highly sexual, but that seems to be the beauty out of each one of them, having the ability to express something so “censored‰” in such a classy way.

Sex, cigarettes, synths, pop, neon disco pants: they are all the same for Sebastien Tellier.