MOVIE

Sofiane Pamart is entertaining friends—there are drinks, snacks and a beautiful piano, and he gives an impromptu performance. The French pianist/composer anticipates the phones capturing content for future reels, but he does not expect the footage to reach Wyclef Jean, erstwhile Fugees rapper and beloved singer-songwriter/producer. Jean likes Pamart’s playing so much he asks their mutual friend to set up a jam session for the very next night. The result is the goosebump-inducing “There’ll Be a Day”, a meditation on peace, with Jean’s distinctive vocals running alongside shimmering piano. The track heads up MOVIE, Pamart’s fourth album, where the piano is the Oscar-worthy screen star. “This isn’t a compilation; we’re all following one artistic direction,” says Pamart of the title. There’s a narrative arc: dawn breaks with “Sunrise in Your Eyes”, a Chopin-esque prelude filled with filigree melodies that melt into a wordless, yawning choral backdrop. It’s this sparse, sensual piano music that attracts the 14 international guests who feature across the 20 tracks. “I love Ravel, Debussy and Chopin,” explains Pamart of his compositional heroes, “especially the way they capture the beauty of birds, trees and nature through music. A simple melody can often be the most profound.” Pamart pairs this impressionistic scene painting with splodges of colour—courtesy of the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra—in “The Knight Ceremony”, a twirling, swirling instrumental piece, while in “Your Inner World”, the Prague Philharmonic Choir explores crunchy harmonies amid flurrying strings. But it’s “Piano Sonata” that encapsulates Pamart’s signature sound. As the pianist sets down a delicate melodic line, J Balvin’s vocals, a mixture of sung and spoken Spanish inspired by reggaetón, interweave with the broken chord sequence. “A que piano llore” (“Let the piano cry”) sings J Balvin—and Pamart sobs his response. Melding such unlikely genres is where Pamart excels. “I believe that we are in a world where everything is connected,” he says. “Newness comes from blending genres, blending people, blending cultures.” Further featured voices include Nelly Furtado, whose harmonies curl over the piano in “Like an Angel”, and Sia’s powerful solo is enhanced by a thick instrumental blanket in “Gimme Love Orchestra”. And don’t let the sheer number and calibre of these guest artists fool you into thinking these performances were made digitally: every song was co-created in person. “Sometimes, I would suggest a theme or a title,” says Pamart, explaining his directorial process, “Melody Gardot was pregnant at the time we were working together and she selected the most dramatic option, ‘A Kiss a Kill’.” In “Cinema”, the piano’s voice is echoed by one of a varying tone: FKJ—French Kiwi Juice—plays an upright to Pamart’s grand. The twittering upper-register notes sound like birdsong in this gentle, filmic piece. The title is a meta reference to the album as a whole, something that is also invoked in “Director’s Cut”, where Pamart transforms a theme from a previously released song, an Easter egg for his fans to hunt. “I could tell you,” he says, “but there’s fun in the discovery.” Hint: Try PLANET (2019), LETTER (2022) and NOCHE (2023). With filming in the can, MOVIE wraps up with the orchestral “Your Eyes on Sunset”. As the credits roll, the final scene focuses on one instrument, the piano, and the boy on the album cover who now, as the adult Pamart, plays it with such creative conviction.