French singer/songwriter Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine is difficult to file in any single genre. Influenced by Bob Dylan and Lou Reed as well as Léo Ferré, Jacques Brel, and French writers, his music first took shape as a form of folk-rock, turning darker and more synthetic in the '80s and constantly evolving with time into a quite personal style of pop featuring poetic, daring, and sometimes difficult lyrics. Thiéfaine has managed to attract a large and faithful audience, selling more records and concert tickets than one might imagine given the level of his exposure, and gaining cult status along the way. ~ Olivier Duboc