Point de Suture is the seventh studio album by French singer-songwriter Mylène Farmer, and her 14th album overall. Preceded by the lead single "Dégénération", it was released digitally on 20 August 2008, then on CD five days later. The album primilarily consists of electronic dance music.
The album received mixed reviews upon release, with some praising its return to a powerful sound with catchy melodies while others criticized its lack of innovation compared to her past work.
The album achieved commercial success on the French, Swiss, Belgian and Russian album charts. The five singles released from the album were all number ones in France.
Background and release Pascal Nègre, the president of Universal Music, officially announced on 28 January 2008 in the French newspaper Le Figaro that Farmer would release a new album in 2008."Regards croisés de deux frères ennemis de l'industrie musicale", Le Figaro, 28 January 2008 Mylene.net. Retrieved 12 May 2008"Un nouvel opus pour Mylène Farmer", Midi Libre, 4 February 2008 Devant-soi.com. Retrieved 12 May 2008 In the following days this information was covered by other media outlets with initial reports suggesting that it would be entitled Onirisme."Mylène Farmer – Bientôt un nouvel album ? Onirique ?", 29 January 2008 Cinestarnews.com. Retrieved 12 May 2008"Mylène Farmer sortira un nouvel album pour 2008", 30 January 2008 . Retrieved 12 May 2008"Mylène Farmer... Retour en douce", 30 January 2008 Mosaiquefm.net . Retrieved 12 May 2008"Mylène Farmer, dans les bacs cette année", Ludmilla Intravaia, 29 January 2008 TF1.LCI.fr . Retrieved 12 May 2008"Une Mylène Farmer "onirique" cet automne", Musicactu.com ,MCM.net, Virgin17.fr , . Retrieved 12 May 2008 At the time, it was announced that it would be composed of 11 tracks,"Mylène Farmer continue à rêver", 30 January 2008 Nrj.fr . Retrieved 12 May 2008 and it would be released in the last quarter of 2008."Le retour de Mylène Farmer", 30 January 2008 Actualité-de-star.com . Retrieved 12 May 2008 Several song titles were relayed in the media, such as "Onirisme", "Faire... et défaire", "Dans ton antre", "Ma nature est...", "Excaliburia", "Who's Mylène?", "Aux points cardinaux", "Je m'expose et m'impose", "Poésie visuelle", "The Witch of Dreams", "Voyage au bout de tes sens ", and it would also contain an acoustic version of Farmer's 1996 hit, "Rêver"."Mylène Farmer sort de l'ombre : bientôt l'album", 30 January 2008 News-de-stars.com . Retrieved 12 May 2008"Mylène Farmer est de retour", 30 January 2008 Lessentiel.lu . Retrieved 12 May 2008"Un disque, une tournée : les fans peuvent se réjouir!", 30 January 2008 Gala.fr . Retrieved 12 May 2008 A rumor that spread on the Internet claimed that the first single would be "À propos de nous". But finally, Thierry Suc, one of the producers, announced on 21 May that it would be "Dégénération". It was scheduled to be released on radio on 19 June. At the time, he also said that the album was not yet finished."Mylène Farmer revient le 19 juin avec "Dégénération"", Ouest France, 21 May 2008 Mylene.net. Retrieved 21 May 2008
On 19 June, French radio RTL stated that the album would be released on 25 August. Finally, on 30 June, French internet store "Virginmega" revealed the name of the album, Point de suture, its cover and the track listing, and announced its release for 20 August.Point de suture, album en précommande, Virginmega.fr, 30 June 2008 Virginmega.fr. Retrieved 30 June 2008 On 31 July, the newspaper Le Parisien stated that the album would be released in two formats: digitally and as a mobile phone in a limited edition. According to its edition of 30 August 2008, a duet with David Bowie was originally scheduled for this album, but was eventually canceled because of health problems of the English singer."Mylène Farmer a raté Bowie", Le Parisien, 30 August 2008
In December 2008, a limited collectible mobile phone edition (W980i) was released (2,000 numbered copies: 1,000 on the Internet + 1,000 at SFR Studios). This edition contained the album "Point de Suture", two remixes, a video, a making of, ringtones, visuals and themes of the singer.Advert for SFR Mylene.net. Retrieved 18 November 2008 "Si j'avais au moins..." was released as the 3rd single on 16 February. On 27 March, Radio NRJ revealed the fourth single from the album was "C'est dans l'air".
At the concerts in Douai (Gayant Expo) and in St. Petersburg, a remix of "Sextonik" by French DJ Tomer G was played. The DJ stated on his site that his remix was done for a single, thus revealing that "Sextonik" was the fifth single from the album.
Title and cover art "All the stitches of the world cannot sew us again" – Al Pacino, Carlito's Way
For the name of this album, Farmer drew her inspiration from a line of Al Pacino's in the 1993 film Carlito's Way, which appears inside the digipack edition of the CD: "All the stitches of the world cannot sew us again"."Mylène Farmer – Point de Suture", Tout 1 Info, A.X., 27 August 2008 Devant-soi.com. Retrieved 30 August 2008 To promote the album, Farmer appeared on the TV news of 31 August 8 pm, on TF1. Interviewed by Claire Chazal, she explained that she used the singular in the title of the album because it is (in French-language) a pun between "Stitch" (which evokes a hope) and "No suture" (which expresses a despair).TV news of 31 August 2008 TF1.LCI.fr . Retrieved 1 September 2008 "TF1 : Mylène Farmer trouve Claire Chazal sensible", Melty, 31 August 2008 Melty.fr. Retrieved 1 September 2008 In an interview for the French gay magazine Têtu, Farmer confided that if somebody did not know her work, she would wish that this person learned to know her through the hidden track of the album, "Ave Maria", which she had previously performed in June 2008 during the funeral of the composer Frédéric Botton."Son album Point de Suture sort aujourd'hui dans les bacs", Gala, 25 August 2008 Gala.fr. Retrieved 26 August 2008
The photos illustrating this album were made by a Japanese photographer named Tani Atsushi. The cover as well as the booklet show a doll covered with scars, with surgical instruments in the foreground. There is only one photo of Farmer inside the booklet, with her back turned.
Music and lyrics This album was announced as being very different from the previous ones in musical and promotional terms."Mylène Farmer doit sortir un nouvel album en 2008", 28 January 2008 Ladepeche.fr. Retrieved 12 May 2008"Un nouvel album en 2008 pour Mylène Farmer", Samuel Golaz, 25 January 2008 Chartsinfrance.net. Retrieved 12 May 2008 During an interview prior to the album's release, Farmer explained: "If I compare it with the previous album Avant que l'ombre..., it will probably be more electronic... with many "up tempo" songs.""Mylène Farmer lève le voile", Paris Match, Jérôme Béglé Mylene.net. Retrieved 12 May 2008 According to Thierry Suc, "in this album, there will be a little of all the universes that characterize Mylène's albums"."Mylène est Mylène, elle n'a jamais été un phénomène de mode", Le Quartier Libre, Jonathan Singaye, 30 May 2008 Mylene.net. Retrieved 1 June 2008 Critics noted that the album contains "melancholy ballads" (even if they are fewer on this album than on Avant que l'ombre...)"Mylene Farmer", Music Orange.fr, Corinne Leleu, 25 August 2008 Music.orange.fr . Retrieved 26 August 2008 as well as "songs with electro/techno sounds""Nouvel album pour Mylène Farmer", Sud-Ouest, 23 August 2008 Mylene.net. Retrieved 24 August 2008 and "electrodance" songs." Mylène recoud ses déchirures", La Libre Belgique, Vincent Braun, 26 August 2008 Lalibre.be. Retrieved 28 August 2008
The subjects in this album are "sexuality, uneasiness, mantras, coded plays on words","Mylène Farmer, un album massif et discret", Le Figaro, Bertrand Dicale, 21 August 2008 Mylene.net. Retrieved 21 August 2008 "melancholy","Point de Suture : un peu décousu", La Dernière Heure, I.M., 25 August 2008 Dhnet.be. Retrieved 26 August 2008 "extreme love, purity, loneliness","Le Point de suture de Mylène Farmer", RFI Musique, 25 August 2008 Rfimusique.com . Retrieved 26 August 2008 "life, death, love tackled in turn with seriousness or humor". The album also evokes "the resilience and the indelible scars of the childhood" with numerous quotations and literary references (Süskind, Schubert, Baudelaire...)."Mylène Farmer – Point de Suture", L'Express, Gilles Médioni, 26 August 2008 Lexpress.fr. Retrieved 26 August 2008
Critical reception
The album received mixed reviews. La Voix du Nord published reviews from the singer's fans proving that the reactions are shared between "disappointed love and ecstasy"."Nouvel album: entre amour déçu et extase", La Voix du Nord, 28 August 2008 Mylene.net (1), Mylene.net (2). Retrieved 28 August 2008 La Meuse and 20 Minutes summed up many critics deeming this album is "nor completely failed nor completely exciting","Du génie ou du toc? On a passé au scanner la nouvel album de Mylène Farmer...", La Meuse, Sam Christophe, 27 August 2008 Mylene.net. Retrieved 29 August 2008 "without surprise but pleasant"."L'électro-pop chic de Mylène Farmer", 20 Minutes, Olivier Delaloye, 2 September 2008 Mylene.net. Retrieved 2 September 2008
On 17 January 2009, the album was awarded 'Francophone Album of the Year' on the 2009 NRJ Music Awards, broadcast on TF1.
Neutral reviews According to Le Parisien, "a gothico-melancholic muddle fills some vaporous songs of the album". The newspaper blamed it for the lack of novelty and the "disappointing duet" with Moby, but also said that this one "shows itself finally effective when it accelerates the rhythm, takes up the sound, let itself overcame by the electro heart-beat"."Mylène Farmer veut frapper fort", Le Parisien, Emmanuel Marolle, 21 August 2008 Mylene.net (1), Mylene.net (2). Retrieved 21 August 2008 Ouest-France said this album is "a true marketing blow", noting that "the electro turning point of the artist surprises, delights or disappoints...""Mylène Farmer soigne son Point de Suture", Ouest-France, Jérémy Paradis, 25 August 2008 Ouest-france.fr. Retrieved 24 August 2008 According to Metro, Point de Suture is "an electro-pop album without surprise"."L'Ange rouge n'a pas changé", Métro, J.V., 26 August 2008 Mylene.net. Retrieved 26 August 2008 After underlining the lack of promotion, French newspaper Le Figaro qualified this album as "massive", "discreet" and "commercial". It also stated that with this new album, "Farmer does not envisage a revolution or even a revelation", and that it has "a methodical faithfulness" to her previous works. It also reproached the "naivety of certain texts" and their "tendency for abstraction". Libération said, throughout this album, "the music seems to be only a pretext in a whole declination of subsidiary yields"; it contains "ten songs unwinding an ambient techno punctuated with ballads with voice of head without conviction"."Mylène Farmer sort un septième album peu inspirée, sans (contre)façon", Libération, Ludovic Perrin, 26 August 2008 Mylene.net. Retrieved 26 August 2008 For RFI Musique, this "disc [is] not really daring", "rather usual, even routine", which seems especially made for the French tour of the next year. For Le Monde, this album constitutes "a slight disappointment" : it has a "dance rhythmic efficiency" but "a mere nothing of formal ambition is missing"."Mylène Farmer signe son retour avec un album sans surprise", Le Monde, Sylvain Siclier, 28 August 2008 Lemonde.fr. Retrieved 28 August 2008 La Meuse, as well as Télé Moustique,"Point à la ligne", Télé Moustique, L.L., 27 August 2008 Mylene.net. Retrieved 4 September 2008 concluded that, with this album, "Farmer has definitively ceased to surprise"."Gagnée par la routine", La Meuse, S.CH., 27 August 2008 Mylene.net. Retrieved 29 August 2008
Negative reviews