It's a Long Way to Happiness Alban Claudin

• Alban Claudin:
• 1 Dandelion 03:09
• 2 It's a Long Way to Happiness 03:22
• 3 One Thousand Trees 03:37
• 4 Peaceful Mind 03:00
• 5 Coton Reverie 03:45
• 6 The Lost Theme 03:08
• 7 Night Shift 03:53
• 8 La fée verte 03:18
• 9 New September 04:34
• 10 Power Spots 02:51
• 11 2904 04:11
• 12 Dandelion Reprise 00:48
• Total Runtime 39:36

Info for It's a Long Way to Happiness

Der französische Pianist und Komponist Alban Claudin versammelt auf seinem Debütalbum "It's a Long Way to Happiness" Pianogedichte über das Glück, in sehnsuchtsvoller Melancholie zu schwelgen. Inspiriert von den Irrungen und Wirrungen des Lebens als junger Kreativer in seiner Wahlheimat Paris, hat Alban Claudin ein Konvolut an poetischen Pianoliedern über das Glücklichsein geschrieben.

Der Melancholie in den schnelllebigen Beziehungen und momenthaften Begegnungen in der Großstadt gibt er auf "It's a Long Way to Happiness" einen modernen, geräuschhaften Pianoklang. Kompositorisch zeigt er sich von den minimalistischen und doch melodiösen Werken von Erik Satie oder Yann Tiersen beeinflusst.

Alban Claudin gilt als aufstrebender Produzent in seiner Heimat Frankreich. Durch die Zusammenarbeit mit renommierten Marken wie Louis Vuitton oder Chanel, Künstlerinnen wie Clara Luciani oder Yelle und als Soundtrack-Komponist hat er sich dort bereits einen Namen gemacht.

“For me, melancholy is a form of digested nostalgia, which brings a smile, as if yesterday’s troubles were destined to become lightness.”

Alban Claudin, Klavier

Alban Claudin
While his first critically acclaimed album “It’s a Long Way to Happiness” exceeds 8 million streams, the beginning of 2022 looks very busy for Alban Claudin who is putting the finishing touches to the soundtrack of Guillaume Gouix’s first movie “Amore Mio” (to be released next fall), prepares new concerts and gets ready to tour again with the French star Clara Luciani.

Following his re-writing of Claude Debussy’s ‘Clair de Lune’ released in October 2021, Alban’s new single ‘Bells Variation‘ is now available along with a video directed by the young and talented Mila Gantelmi d’Ille.

‘Bells Variation’ is a re-arrangement of a song by Goldmoon (aka Stefane Goldman, co-composer of many Imany’s songs), an artist I was lucky enough to discover via our common publisher Taktic Music. This track immediately gave me a feeling of power and beauty and I felt a comfort when I listened to it: I then wanted to do my own version. I started to play it during my concerts, and seeing the reaction of the public, it seemed obvious to me to make a proper studio version and release it as a single. On “Bells Variation” I use for the first time voices in my music, a dialogue between male and female choirs, a writing experience that seems to me to be a natural part of the evolution of my work as a composer.’

At 30, Alban Claudin carries a vintage look with a wise touch, an Oasis-style haircut that half-hides an expression which speaks volumes about the boy’s roguishness. He smiles in self-amusement at the ease at which he springs from recording sessions to promo to concerts. But when the show is over he returns to the green paradise of Sens where he has set up a small studio to compose peacefully while enjoying the Burgundy countryside.

Signed by Taktic Music in 2014, Alban started writing for short films and documentaries (including “Yoga, a breath of freedom” awarded in several international festivals) while collaborating with many prestigious brands (Louis Vuitton, Van Cleef & Arpels, Chanel …) before focusing on composing piano pieces for his first solo album that was recorded during the summer of 2019 in Paris after a patient work of studio experiments: “I wanted the production to singularize my music. Even if it is only 300 years old, the piano has been exploited in all possible forms and it is very difficult to reinvent this instrument, to make something that has not been done” explains Alban, a great admirer of Ravel and Bartók, graduate of the Conservatory of music and a fine connoisseur of electronic keyboards.

Released in March 2021, It’s a Long Way to Happiness has been unanimously praised by the media (“radiant”, “sumptuous“,” luminous“, “soft and airy”, “timeless”…), exceeded 8 million streams in just eight months and established the profile of an artist with a personality as unique as it is singular, confirmed by the video clips from directors Maxime Charden and Mila Gantelmi d‘Ille.

As per live performances, Alban played his first solo shows in 2021 in Paris, Brussels (Le Botanique) and London (The London Jazz Festival) as well has opening for Chassol and Woodkid while more dates are set up by his touring company (Junzi Arts) for 2022 in France, England, Switzerland, Spain.

His rare studio collaborations are the result of human and artistic encounters: keyboards sessions for French singers and songwriters such as Pi Ja Ma, Voyou and Adrian Gallo, remix for Yelle’s “Je t’aime encore” or production for Clara Luciani’s cover of “Sous le soleil exactement” (written by Serge Gainsbourg for Ana Karina). He recently composed a piece for the first album of the French violinist Esther Abrami that they recorded as a duet for Sony Classical (album in March 2022).

Booklet for It's a Long Way to Happiness