À l'ombre
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox song
| name = À l'ombre
| cover = Mylène Farmer - A l'ombre.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Mylène Farmer
| album = Monkey Me
| B-side = Instrumental
| released = 26 November 2012
| recorded = 2012
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Electropop
| length = 4:51 (album version)
4:45 (radio edit)
| label = Polydor, Universal Music
| writer = Lyrics: Mylène Farmer
Music: Laurent Boutonnat
| producer = Laurent Boutonnat
| prev_title = Du temps
| prev_year = 2011
| next_title = Je te dis tout
| next_year = 2013
| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|4VH7Eg5LJpc|"À l'ombre"}}}}
}}
"À l'ombre" (English: In the Shadow) is a song recorded by the French singer Mylène Farmer. This electropop song was written by Farmer with music composed by Laurent Boutonnat. It was the lead single from her ninth studio album Monkey Me (2012), released on 22 October 2012 digitally, and on 26 November in physical formats. The single entered the French chart at number four, then dropped out of the top 50 and jumped to number one on the chart edition of 8 December 2012. It also peaked in the Belgian (Walloon) chart at number two.
History
On 16 October 2012, the RTL journalist Anthony Martin revealed on Twitter the title of Farmer's new single, and it was said that the music and lyrics were respectively of Boutonnat and Farmer. Two days later, the cover of the CD single was shown on Twitter by Polydor France. On 22 October, the song was sent to radio stations and simultaneously was made available on the download platforms from 8:00 am.{{cite web |title=Mylène Farmer : écoutez son nouveau single "A l'ombre" |url=http://www.chartsinfrance.net/Mylene-Farmer/news-82420.html |first=Jonathan |last=Homard |publisher=Charts in France |language=French |date=22 October 2012 |accessdate=1 December 2012}} Remixes by Guéna LG and then by The Young Professionals were posted on social networks in early November.{{cite web |title=Mylène Farmer remixe "A l'ombre" : écoutez ! |url=http://www.chartsinfrance.net/Mylene-Farmer/news-82706.html |first=Jonathan |last=Homard |publisher=Charts in France |language=French |date=5 November 2012 |accessdate=1 December 2012}}{{cite web |title=Mylène Farmer collabore avec The Young Professionals sur le remix du titre "A l'ombre" |url=http://www.chartsinfrance.net/Mylene-Farmer/news-82904.html |first=Jonathan |last=Homard |publisher=Charts in France |language=French |date=14 November 2012 |accessdate=1 December 2012}}
Music and lyrics
"À l'ombre" is an electropop, dance song similar in style to the songs on Farmer's Point de suture album.{{cite web |title=Mylène Farmer : son nouveau single "A l'ombre" déjà numéro un des ventes sur iTunes |url=http://www.chartsinfrance.net/Mylene-Farmer/news-82514.html |first=Jonathan |last=Homard |publisher=Charts in France |language=French |date=22 October 2012 |accessdate=1 December 2012}}{{cite web |title=Mylène Farmer, "À l'ombre" : C'est déjà un carton pour son nouveau single ! |url=http://www.purepeople.com/article/mylene-farmer-a-l-ombre-c-est-deja-un-carton-pour-son-nouveau-single_a108912/1 |date=22 October 2012 |publisher=Pure People |language=French |accessdate=2 December 2012}} The lyrics describe somebody, potentially Farmer, wallowing in self-doubt and questioning their self-worth. They also may allude to a disillusionment with the struggle to stay famous and viable. The sombre mood of the song fits in with Farmer's attraction to misery and despair as seen on previous tracks Je t'aime mélancolie and Fuck Them All.{{cite web|title=Translation of "A L'Ombre" by Mylène Farmer|publisher=Lyrics Translate|url=http://lyricstranslate.com/en/lombre-shade.html#songtranslation|accessdate=27 June 2014}}
Music video
File:Mylène Farmer - A l'ombre (video).jpg
On 29 November 2012, TF1 announced on its site that an excerpt of the music video for "À l'ombre" would be shown three days later on the evening new programme, and that Farmer would be interviewed by the news presenter Claire Chazal the next day.{{cite web |title=Mylène Farmer : le clip "A l'ombre" en exclusivité samedi soir sur TF1 |url=http://lci.tf1.fr/culture/musique/mylene-farmer-le-clip-a-l-ombre-en-exclusivite-samedi-soir-sur-7699182.html |publisher=TF1 |first=Olivier |last=Corriez |date=29 November 2012 |language=French |accessdate=1 December 2012}} On 1 December 2012, indeed, a one-minute preview of the music video was shown at the end of the broadcast. The video was directed by Laurent Boutonnat and inspired by the French artist Olivier de Sagazan, and especially his work Transfiguration.{{cite journal |title="À l'ombre", le nouveau clip de Mylène Farmer |url=http://www.metrofrance.com/video/a-l-ombre-le-nouveau-clip-de-mylene-farmer/mllb!rtnmhK2YSugg/ |journal=Métro France |first=Dolorès |last=Bakela |date=2 December 2012 |language=French |accessdate=2 December 2012}} De Sagazan said that Farmer contacted him and that he agreed to perform in the video, and explained that the "unfolding of [his] the work makes the chronology of the video", adding that his work deals with a "large organic chaos". The music video was shot in Paris in November 2012, in an 800-square meter studio.{{cite journal |first=Nicolas |last=Daheran |journal=Presse Ocean |title=Performance en clip |date=16 December 2012 |language=French}}
According to the newspaper Le Point, "Sagazan's work is a mixture of beautiful, and sometimes disturbing, painting and sculpture which plays with appearances and fears. The work of the performer looks so much like the singer's world that one wonders why both did not meet earlier."{{cite journal |title=L'offensive médiatique de Mylène Farmer |first=Jérôme |last=Béglé |url=http://www.lepoint.fr/musique/l-offensive-mediatique-de-mylene-farmer-01-12-2012-1536512_38.php |journal=Le Point |date=1 December 2012 |language=French |accessdate=1 December 2012}} Just after the news broadcast, the full music video was available on the TF1 website.{{cite web |title=Mylène Farmer – "À l'Ombre" |url=http://videos.tf1.fr/tf1-et-vous/mylene-farmer/decouvrez-le-clip-de-mylene-farmer-7692880.html |publisher=TF1 |date=1 December 2012 |language=French |accessdate=1 December 2012}} It shows Farmer singing, dancers performing a choreography in the mud, de Sagazan covering his face with mud and wolves running in the fog.
Thomas Montet of Pure People deemed the video "disturbing", seeing in it "the praise of madness".{{cite web |title=Mylène Farmer dévoile le très dérangeant clip de "À l'ombre" |url=http://www.purepeople.com/article/mylene-farmer-devoile-le-tres-derangeant-clip-de-a-l-ombre_a111259/1 |first=Thomas |last=Montet |publisher=Pure People |date=1 December 2012 |language=French |accessdate=2 December 2012}} According to de Sagazan, the music video is "magnificent".
Reception
According to Julien Chadeyron of Le Nouvel Observateur, "À l'ombre" is "so effective and haunting".{{cite journal |title=Mylène Farmer sur TF1 avec un nouvel album "Monkey me" : elle m'a étonnée... |url=http://leplus.nouvelobs.com/contribution/726785-mylene-farmer-sur-tf1-avec-un-nouvel-album-monkey-me-elle-m-a-etonnee.html |journal=Le Nouvel Observateur |first=Julien |last=Chadeyron |date=3 December 2012 |language=French |accessdate=3 December 2012}}
In France, two hours after its availability on digital platforms, the song became number one on iTunes. On the chart edition of 27 October 2012, the song entered the French chart at number four, with 8,875 downloads,{{cite web |title=Top Singles : Psy, Adele et Rihanna plus forts que Mylène Farmer ! |url=http://www.chartsinfrance.net/actualite/news-82687.html |first=Charles |last=Decant |publisher=Charts in France |language=French |date=31 October 2012 |accessdate=1 December 2012}} then dropped to number 69 with 960 downloads.{{cite web |title=Top Singles : record historique de ventes pour le "Skyfall" d'Adele ! |url=http://www.chartsinfrance.net/actualite/news-82849.html |first=Charles |last=Decant |publisher=Charts in France |language=French |date=12 November 2012 |accessdate=1 December 2012}} It continued to drop the following two weeks, falling out of the top 100, then climbed to number 59, and reached number one the next week, when the physical formats were released, selling 22,027 units that week. "À l'ombre" thus became Farmer's twelfth number one solo and thirteenth overall single in France.{{cite web |title=Mylène Farmer place "A l'ombre" en tête des ventes et bat son propre record |url=http://www.chartsinfrance.net/Mylene-Farmer/news-83261.html |first=Jonathan |last=Hamard |date=6 December 2012 |language=French |publisher=Charts in France |accessdate=6 December 2012}} Then it dropped to number 21.
In the French-speaking part of Belgium (Wallonia), the song entered the Ultratop 50 at number six on 3 November 2012, then dropped to number 34 and fell until the last rank of the chart the next two weeks before rocketing to number 19 in the fifth week, then to number three and eventually to number two.{{cite web |title=Mylène Farmer — "À l'ombre", Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart |url=https://www.ultratop.be/fr/song/106cbd/Mylene-Farmer-A-l'ombre |publisher=Ultratop |language=French |accessdate=1 December 2012}}
Formats and track listings
- CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=À l'ombre |others=Mylène Farmer |year=2012 |type=CD-one Single liner notes |publisher=Polydor |id=372 281-7 |url=http://mylene.net/mylene/mylene-farmer-referentiel-a-l-ombre-cd-single.php |language=French}}
{{Tracklist
| title1 = À l'ombre
| note1 = single version
| length1= 4:51
| title2 = À l'ombre
| note2 = instrumental
| length2= 4:48
}}
- CD maxi 1{{cite AV media notes|title=À l'ombre |others=Mylène Farmer |year=2012 |type=Maxi CD Single liner notes |publisher=Polydor |id=372 281-6 |url=http://mylene.net/mylene/mylene-farmer-referentiel-a-l-ombre-cd-maxi-1.php |language=French}}
{{Tracklist
| title1 = À l'ombre
| note1 = single version
| length1= 4:51
| title2 = À l'ombre
| note2 = Offer Nissim club remix
| length2= 7:31
| title3 = À l'ombre
| note3 = TYP remix club
| length3= 7:00
| title4 = À l'ombre
| note4 = Guéna LG new chords radio remix
| length4= 3:49
}}
- CD maxi 2{{cite AV media notes|title=À l'ombre |others=Mylène Farmer |year=2012 |type=Maxi CD Single liner notes |publisher=Polydor |id=372 445-7 |url=http://mylene.net/mylene/mylene-farmer-referentiel-a-l-ombre-cd-maxi-2.php |language=French}}
{{Tracklist
| title1 = À l'ombre
| note1 = single version
| length1= 4:51
| title2 = À l'ombre
| note2 = Guéna LG remix
| length2= 7:00
| title3 = À l'ombre
| note3 = Tony Romera club remix
| length3= 6:00
| title4 = À l'ombre
| note4 = instrumental
| length4= 4:48
}}
- 12" maxi{{cite AV media notes|title=À l'ombre |others=Mylène Farmer |year=2012 |type=12" Maxi Vinyl liner notes |publisher=Polydor |id=372 281-5 |url=http://mylene.net/mylene/mylene-farmer-referentiel-a-l-ombre-maxi-33-tours.php |language=French}}
{{Tracklist
| title1 = À l'ombre
| note1 = Tony Romera club remix
| length1=
| title2 = À l'ombre
| note2 = Guéna LG remix
| length2=
| title3 = À l'ombre
| note3 = Offer Nissim club remix
| length3=
| title4 = À l'ombre
| note4 = TYP remix club
| length4=
| title5 = À l'ombre
| note5 = single version
| length5=
}}
- CD single – Promo{{cite AV media notes|title=À l'ombre |others=Mylène Farmer |year=2012 |type=Promo CD-one Single liner notes |publisher=Polydor |id=372 185-4 |url=http://mylene.net/mylene/mylene-farmer-referentiel-a-l-ombre-cd-promo.php |language=French}}
{{Tracklist
| title1 = À l'ombre
| note1 = radio edit
| length1= 4:45
}}
- CD maxi – Promo – Remixes{{cite AV media notes|title=À l'ombre |others=Mylène Farmer |year=2012 |type=Promo Maxi CD Single liner notes |publisher=Polydor |id=372 446-2 |url=http://mylene.net/mylene/mylene-farmer-referentiel-a-l-ombre-cd-promo-remixes.php |language=French}}
{{Tracklist
| title1 = À l'ombre
| note1 = TYP remix club
| length1= 7:00
| title2 = À l'ombre
| note2 = Tony Romera club remix
| length2= 6:00
| title3 = À l'ombre
| note3 = Offer Nissim club remix
| length3= 7:13
| title4 = À l'ombre
| note4 = Guena LG remix
| length4= 7:59
| title5 = À l'ombre
| note5 = TYP remix – radio version
| length5= 4:20
| title6 = À l'ombre
| note6 = Tony Romera radio remix
| length6= 3:26
| title7 = À l'ombre
| note7 = Offer Nissim radio remix
| length7= 4:12
| title8 = À l'ombre
| note8 = Guena LG new chords radio remix
| length8= 3:49
}}
- Digital download{{cite web |title="A L'Ombre" — Mylène Farmer – Format : Téléchargement MP3 |url=https://www.amazon.fr/A-LOmbre/dp/B009UQCARQ/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354565682&sr=301-1 |language=French |accessdate=3 December 2012}}{{cite web |title="A L'Ombre" — Mylène Farmer – Format : Téléchargement MP3 |url=https://www.amazon.fr/A-LOmbre/dp/B00AD6Z26S/ref=sr_shvl_album_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1354565682&sr=301-3 |language=French |accessdate=3 December 2012}}{{cite web |title="A L'Ombre" — Mylène Farmer – Format : Téléchargement MP3 |url=https://www.amazon.fr/A-LOmbre/dp/B00AD794S4/ref=sr_shvl_album_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1354565682&sr=301-2 |language=French |accessdate=3 December 2012}}
{{Tracklist
| title1 = À l'ombre
| note1 = single version
| length1= 4:50
| title2 = À l'ombre
| note2 = Offer Nissim club remix
| length2= 7:14
| title3 = À l'ombre
| note3 = TYP remix club
| length3= 7:01
| title4 = À l'ombre
| note4 = Guena LG new chords radio remix
| length4= 3:48
| title5 = À l'ombre
| note5 = Guena LG remix
| length5= 7:59
| title6 = À l'ombre
| note6 = Tony Romera club remix
| length6= 6:59
| title7 = À l'ombre
| note7 = Instrumental
| length7= 4:48
}}
Credits and personnel
These are the credits and the personnel as they appear on the back of the single:{{cite web |title=Mylène Farmer – "À l'ombre" – Supports |url=http://mylene.net/mylene/mylene-farmer-referentiel-a-l-ombre.php |publisher=Mylene.net |language=French |accessdate=1 December 2012}}{{cite web |title=Mylène Farmer – "À l'ombre" – Crédits |url=http://mylene.net/mylene/mylene-farmer-a-l-ombre-credits.php |publisher=Mylene.net |language=French |accessdate=1 December 2012}}
- Mylène Farmer – lyrics
- Laurent Boutonnat – music
- Requiem Publishing – editions
- Nathalie Delépine – photograph
- Henry Neu – design
- Made in the E.U.
Charts
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=Peak positions=
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=Year-end charts=
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Release history
See also
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Mylène Farmer}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:A l'ombre}}
Category:Songs with music by Laurent Boutonnat
Category:Songs with lyrics by Mylène Farmer
Category:Music videos directed by Laurent Boutonnat