Raphaël

Raphael Haroche from France has built a following as a singer, songwriter, and actor with his emotionally resonant and inventive brand of contemporary pop. Born November 7, 1975, in the Parisian suburb of Boulogne, he grew up with a Russian father and Argentinean mother in a household that immersed him in diverse musical traditions. Early exposure fostered a strong preference for pop from the start of the 1980s, including the work of David Bowie, Bob Dylan, and the French rock group Noir Désir. Before focusing on guitar, the aspiring musician tried his hand at saxophone, piano, and rudimentary sampling devices. After beginning law studies as a young adult, he left university to concentrate on songwriting full-time and landed a contract with EMI at age 24. His first album, Hotel de l'Univers, appeared in 2001 and met with modest interest. The tour that followed proved difficult because of limited stage experience, yet Haroche still received the Victoires de la Musique Award for Best Newcomer. La Realite arrived in 2003, enjoyed favorable notice, and sold 160,000 copies. Mainstream recognition arrived in 2005 with Caravane, an album that drew strong critical praise and became his first to reach Billboard’s European Top 100. The record collected several awards, and the supporting tour yielded his initial live release, Résistance à la Nuit: Live 2006. The live acoustic set Une Nuit au Chatlet followed in 2007 and paid tribute to classic French singers such as Serge Gainsbourg. His fourth studio album, Je Sais Que la Terre est Plate, reached number one on the French charts in 2008 and surpassed 300,000 copies sold. Pacific 231, released toward the end of 2010, also topped the French charts. Super-Welter appeared two years later, took boxing as its theme, and featured Haroche performing every instrument. Somnambules, issued in 2015, explored childhood themes and included contributions from a children’s choir at Paris’ Houdon school. His eighth studio album, Anticyclone, came out in 2017 and contained a guest vocal by Melanie Thierry as well as the singles “L’Annee la plus chaude de tous les temps” and “Retourner a la Mer.”