Louis Philippe

In the 1980s Louis Philippe built a devoted following by crafting polished, witty pop numbers for Mike Alway’s singularly offbeat él imprint, although his artistic evolution continued well after the label ceased operations in 1989. Drawing on sources that span melodic 1960s pop and rock, jazz, bossa nova, classical music, and French chanson, the Paris-born resident of London assembled an extensive body of work both through his own refined releases and through his roles as arranger and producer for artists that include the Clientele and Saint Etienne. Despite the fact that his recordings ought to attract anyone drawn to finely wrought melodies wrapped in rich vocal textures, the heartfelt and nuanced albums have largely remained the province of a steadfast, geographically scattered circle of admirers; he enjoys particular esteem in Japan, where he is frequently acknowledged as a catalyst for the Shibuya sound. A parallel career as a prominent British sportswriter has freed him to make music strictly according to his own standards, a freedom he has exercised on well-received projects such as the orchestral Azure of 1998 and the standout 2007 album An Unknown Spring. He has also published two books and issued a pair of acclaimed collaborations with Stuart Moxham of Young Marble Giants. Following a thirteen-year interval between studio releases, he resurfaced in 2020 with Thunderclouds. A 2022 anthology assembled by Sean O’Hagan under the title The Sunshine World of Louis Philippe highlighted some of his strongest material.

Born Philippe Auclair in Normandy in 1959, he pursued studies and later taught philosophy in Paris before issuing his debut EP as the Border Boys in 1985. Shortly afterward he departed France, along with his band the Arcadians, to chase his ambition of writing songs in the country that had produced his beloved Kinks. Like numerous French pop composers he viewed English as the essential language of rock & roll, and, aided by an outstanding English instructor and close examination of Ray Davies’ craft, he soon produced lyrics that revealed no hint of his origins.

Mike Alway convinced Auclair to adopt a new name in keeping with él’s custom that its roster adopt colorful personas reflecting their personalities and histories. The choice of Louis Philippe stemmed from the discovery that the Auclair family coat of arms resembled that of King Louis Philippe d’Orléans; moreover, because the monarch was regarded as “king of the bourgeoisie” with little else to recommend him, Alway and Auclair anticipated that the name would unsettle the more solemn figures of the British indie scene intent on toppling the Thatcher government through earnest polemics and abrasive guitars.

Across two years Philippe completed three accomplished albums for él—Appointment with Venus, Ivory Tower, and Yuri Gagarin—while serving as the label’s staff arranger, composer, and session musician, a role that encompassed composing and arranging the entire Anthony Adverse album The Red Shoes. Listeners who first encountered him during this period were often surprised when he appeared to disappear; in reality he was completing two further albums, the more experimental Jean Renoir and Rainfall, which initially appeared only in Japan, where he found himself unexpectedly revered as a progenitor of the Tokyo Shibuya sound that later gave rise to Cornelius and Pizzicato Five. His subsequent releases Delta Kiss and Sunshine came out on the short-lived Humbug label, around the time a single titled “L’Hiver Te Va Bien” looked set to become a hit in France; although it reached the Top 30 on airplay charts, the track failed to generate sales because his French distributor had not placed copies in stores. By then demand for his arranging skills was rising, leading to work with artists as varied as P.J. Proby and Saint Etienne, while a steady income also came from freelance sports reporting for outlets that ranged from BBC World Service to France Sport.

When Humbug folded amid financial difficulties it took with it the Bertrand Burgalat-produced Sunshine, one of Philippe’s most charming and lasting albums. Once more he found himself without a label until the él-inspired Spanish imprint Siesta issued his next record, Jackie Girl. That album was followed by his most ambitious project to date, Azure, released in 1998 and featuring elaborate orchestral arrangements; while the Divine Comedy received critical praise for pursuing a comparable approach, albeit arguably with less success, Azure went largely unnoticed. Further frustration arose when he performed to a sold-out crowd at the CMJ Music Marathon in New York to promote his first U.S. release, the compilation A Kiss in the Funhouse, and shortly afterward one of its tracks reached number one on the CMJ charts, only for copies to be unavailable because of further distribution problems.

After Azure, Philippe made the unusual decision to record an album of songs by Francis Poulenc, accompanied solely by longtime collaborator Danny Manners. Nusch was followed in 2002 by My Favourite Part of You, a return to more standard recording practices and, at the time, his most personal album. The record also marked his first work with the British novelist Jonathan Coe, who supplied lyrics for three songs and joined him on the spoken-word-and-music project 9th & 13th. Recovering from a serious illness, Philippe resolved to avoid further dealings with record companies; consequently his next album, 2004’s The Wonder of It All, was financed directly by fans via the internet and issued on his own Wonder Records label. Although reviews were consistently favorable, the British music press largely ignored it. He remained sought after as an arranger, however, and younger bands such as the Clientele enlisted him for their successful Strange Geometry album.

His aversion to touring—despite being a capable live performer—and to making videos has undoubtedly restricted his access to a wider audience. In addition, his early association with a label many critics dismissed as a playground for frivolous dandies may have prevented his later work from receiving the recognition it merited. Nevertheless, when it comes to composing the graceful, flowing melodies commonly associated with a golden era of popular music, Philippe has few peers among his contemporaries. In 2006, under his birth name Philippe Auclair, he published his first book in France, Le Royaume Enchanté de Tony Blair.

At the beginning of 2007 his name appeared on four notable new releases. Serving again as arranger and conductor for the Clientele’s God Save the Clientele, he drew specific critical attention for the intricate elegance of his settings. The two-disc collection Live soon followed, offering many listeners their first opportunity to experience a complete evening of his music in an intimate setting. Recorded two years earlier in London and Bremen, Germany, with additional tracks from an earlier performance at the Spitz in London, Louis Philippe Live presented a lightly arranged selection of signature Philippe songs, Brian Wilson covers, Francis Poulenc melodies, and occasional rarities.

Turning to another project, after restoring material damaged in a studio break-in, he completed work on a collaboration begun in 1997 with longtime friend Stuart Moxham of Young Marble Giants. The understated result, The Huddle House, showcased both artists at the height of their abilities and reaffirmed the lasting value of Moxham’s songwriting as well as Philippe’s strength as a collaborative partner. Alongside that joint effort he managed to release what may be the most characteristic album of his career, An Unknown Spring. Joined by the Clientele’s Alasdair Maclean and Mel Draisey together with longtime associates Danny Manners and Bertrand Burgalat plus newcomer Mari Persen, the record contained some of his most precisely realized material. Following that prolific year of multiple releases, Philippe returned his primary attention to his sportswriting commitments.

The ensuing musical silence lasted into the late 2010s until a joint concert with the group known as the Night Mail prompted his next solo endeavor. At the same time he renewed his partnership with Moxham, resulting in 2020’s The Devil Laughs, the follow-up to 2007’s The Huddle House. Concurrently he engaged the Night Mail as his backing band for Thunderclouds, an elegant studio-live album credited to Louis Philippe & the Night Mail and released in December 2020. In late 2022 the German label Tapete issued a curated anthology of selected highlights from his catalog. Assembled and introduced by longtime friend and occasional collaborator Sean O’Hagan, The Sunshine World of Louis Philippe drew on recordings made between 1994 and 2007.