Singles

Sebastien Tellier - Divine

Sel Bulut 20/05/2008

Rating: 4.5/5

Sebastien Tellier is probably the coolest man alive. Not only does he look a bit like Jesus, he has also - in no particular order - released three great albums, supported Air, acted in films, scored films, had his most recent LP produced by Daft Punk's Guy-Manuel, penned the startlingly brilliant and perhaps even beautiful club anthem La Ritournelle and now - presumably just because he's that cool - he's representing France in Eurovision.

Whilst Ireland has a turkey and we have someone who may or may not have been on the X Factor representing us, France has an actual musician. The fact there's actual musical merit to the entry is rare for Eurovision in itself, regardless of whether the song is good or not. But, thankfully, it's brilliant.

Divine is a curious and addictive tune. It's stripped down to the point where it's just a drum machine, a synth and vocals, but Tellier's distinctive voice and the upbeat mmbops of the backing vocals bring a hypnotic quality that's impossible to ignore. Tellier himself calls it his tribute to the Beach Boys, which is a pretty fair comparison - Divine is in the same vein as the sort of upbeat, summery pop harmonies the Beach Boys were so great at making that you just can't hate it.

It's just great.

(released 19th May)