À l'ombre

"À l'ombre"
Single by Mylène Farmer
from the album Monkey Me
B-side	Instrumental
Released	22 November 2012 (see: release history)
Format	CD single, CD maxi, 12" maxi, digital download
Recorded	2012
Genre	Electropop
Length	4:51 (album version) 4:45 (radio edit)
Label	Polydor, Universal Music
Writer(s)	Lyrics: Mylène Farmer Music: Laurent Boutonnat
Producer(s)	Laurent Boutonnat
Mylène Farmer singles chronology
"Du temps" (2011) "À l'ombre" (2012) "Je te dis tout" (2013)
Monkey Me track listing "Elle a dit" (1) "À l'ombre" (2) "Monkey Me" (3) Music video "À l'ombre" on YouTube

"À l'ombre" (English: In the Shadow) is a song recorded by the French singer Mylène Farmer. This electropop song was written by Farmer with music composed by Laurent Boutonnat. It was the lead single from her ninth studio album Monkey Me (2012), released on 22 October 2012 digitally, and on 26 November in physical formats. The single entrered the French chart at number four, then dropped out of the top 50 and jumped to number one on the chart edition of 8 December 2012. It also peaked in the Belgian (Walloon) chart at number two.

History

On 16 October 2012, the RTL journalist Anthony Martin revealed on Twitter the title of Farmer's new single, and it was said that the music and lyrics were respectively of Boutonnat and Farmer. Two days later, the cover of the CD single was shown on Twitter by Polydor France. On 22 October, the song was sent to radio stations and simultaneously was made available on the download platforms from 8:00 am.^[1] Remixes by Guéna LG and then by The Young Professionals were posted on social networks in early November.^[2][3]

Music and lyrics

"À l'ombre" is an electropop, dance song similar in style to the songs on Farmer's Point de suture album.^[4][5] The lyrics describe somebody, potentially Farmer, wallowing in self-doubt and questioning their self-worth. They also may allude to a disillusionment with the struggle to stay famous and viable. The sombre mood of the song fits in with Farmer's attraction to misery and despair as seen on previous tracks Je t'aime mélancolie and Fuck Them All.^[6]

Music video

Farmer in the music video for "À l'ombre". The scene depicted is directly inspired by the French artist Olivier de Sagazan's work Transfiguration.

On 29 November 2012, TF1 announced on its site that an excerpt of the music video for "À l'ombre" would be shown three days later on the evening new programme, and that Farmer would be interviewed by the news presenter Claire Chazal the next day.^[7] On 1 December 2012, indeed, a one-minute preview of the music video was shown at the end of the broadcast. The video was directed by Laurent Boutonnat and inspired by the French artist Olivier de Sagazan, and especially his work Transfiguration.^[8] De Sagazan said that Farmer contacted him and that he agreed to perform in the video, and explained that the "unfolding of [his] the work makes the chronology of the video", adding that his work deals with a "large organic chaos". The music video was shot in Paris in November 2012, in an 800-square meter studio.^[9]

According to the newspaper Le Point, "Sagazan's work is a mixture of beautiful, and sometimes disturbing, painting and sculpture which plays with appearances and fears. The work of the performer looks so much like the singer's world that one wonders why both did not meet earlier."^[10] Just after the news broadcast, the full music video was available on the TF1 website.^[11] It shows Farmer singing, dancers performing a choreography in the mud, de Sagazan covering his face with mud and wolves running in the fog.

Thomas Montet of Pure People deemed the video "disturbing", seeing in it "the praise of madness".^[12] According to de Sagazan, the music video is "magnificent".^[9]

Reception

According to Julien Chadeyron of Le Nouvel Observateur, "À l'ombre" is "so effective and haunting".^[13]

In France, two hours after its availability on digital platforms, the song became number one on iTunes.^[4] On the chart edition of 27 October 2012, the song entered the French chart at number four, with 8,875 downloads,^[14] then dropped to number 69 with 960 downloads.^[15] It continued to drop the following two weeks, falling out of the top 100, then climbed to number 59, and reached number one the next week, when the physical formats were released, selling 22,027 units that week. "À l'ombre" thus became Farmer's twelfth number one solo and thirteenth overall single in France.^[16] Then it dropped to number 21.

In the French-speaking part of Belgium (Wallonia), the song entered the Ultratop 50 at number six on 3 November 2012, then dropped to number 34 and fell until the last rank of the chart the next two weeks before rocketing to number 19 in the fifth week, then to number three and eventually to number two.^[17]

Formats and track listings

• CD single^[18]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"À l'ombre" (single version)	4:51
2.	"À l'ombre" (instrumental)	4:48

• CD maxi 1^[19]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"À l'ombre" (single version)	4:51
2.	"À l'ombre" (Offer Nissim club remix)	7:31
3.	"À l'ombre" (TYP remix club)	7:00
4.	"À l'ombre" (Guéna LG new chords radio remix)	3:49

• CD maxi 2^[20]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"À l'ombre" (single version)	4:51
2.	"À l'ombre" (Guéna LG remix)	7:00
3.	"À l'ombre" (Tony Romera club remix)	6:00
4.	"À l'ombre" (instrumental)	4:48

• 12" maxi^[21]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"À l'ombre" (Tony Romera club remix)
2.	"À l'ombre" (Guéna LG remix)
3.	"À l'ombre" (Offer Nissim club remix)
4.	"À l'ombre" (TYP remix club)
5.	"À l'ombre" (single version)

• CD single – Promo^[22]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"À l'ombre" (radio edit)	4:45

• CD maxi – Promo – Remixes^[23]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"À l'ombre" (TYP remix club)	7:00
2.	"À l'ombre" (Tony Romera club remix)	6:00
3.	"À l'ombre" (Offer Nissim club remix)	7:13
4.	"À l'ombre" (Guena LG remix)	7:59
5.	"À l'ombre" (TYP remix – radio version)	4:20
6.	"À l'ombre" (Tony Romera radio remix)	3:26
7.	"À l'ombre" (Offer Nissim radio remix)	4:12
8.	"À l'ombre" (Guena LG new chords radio remix)	3:49

• Digital download^[24][25][26]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"À l'ombre" (single version)	4:50
2.	"À l'ombre" (Offer Nissim club remix)	7:14
3.	"À l'ombre" (TYP remix club)	7:01
4.	"À l'ombre" (Guena LG new chords radio remix)	3:48
5.	"À l'ombre" (Guena LG remix)	7:59
6.	"À l'ombre" (Tony Romera club remix)	6:59
7.	"À l'ombre" (Instrumental)	4:48

Personnel and credits

These are the credits and the personnel as they appear on the back of the single:^[27][28]

• Mylène Farmer – lyrics
• Laurent Boutonnat – music
• Requiem Publishing – editions
• Nathalie Delépine – photograph
• Henry Neu – design
• Made in the E.U.

Charts

Peak positions Chart (2012) Peak position Belgian (Flanders) Ultratip Chart[29] 75 Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart[17] 2 Belgian (Wallonia) Airplay Chart[17] 4 Belgian (Wallonia) Dance Chart[17] 11 French SNEP Singles Chart[30] 1 French Airplay Chart[31] 60

Year-end charts Chart (2012) Position Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart[32] 87 French Singles Chart[33] 95

Release history

Region	Date	Format
Belgium, France	22 October 2012	Digital download (single)
	26 November 2012	CD single,[34] CD maxi 1,[35] CD maxi 2,[36] 12" maxi,[37] Digital download (remixes)[25][26]

See also

• List of number-one hits of 2012 (France)
• List of artists who reached number one on the French Singles Chart

References

1. Homard, Jonathan (22 October 2012). "Mylène Farmer : écoutez son nouveau single "A l'ombre"" (in French). Charts in France. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
2. Homard, Jonathan (5 November 2012). "Mylène Farmer remixe "A l'ombre" : écoutez !" (in French). Charts in France. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
3. Homard, Jonathan (14 November 2012). "Mylène Farmer collabore avec The Young Professionals sur le remix du titre "A l'ombre"" (in French). Charts in France. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
4. Homard, Jonathan (22 October 2012). "Mylène Farmer : son nouveau single "A l'ombre" déjà numéro un des ventes sur iTunes" (in French). Charts in France. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
5. "Mylène Farmer, "À l'ombre" : C'est déjà un carton pour son nouveau single !" (in French). Pure People. 22 October 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
6. "Translation of "A L'Ombre" by Mylène Farmer". Lyrics Translate. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
7. Corriez, Olivier (29 November 2012). "Mylène Farmer : le clip "A l'ombre" en exclusivité samedi soir sur TF1" (in French). TF1. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
8. Bakela, Dolorès (2 December 2012). ""À l'ombre", le nouveau clip de Mylène Farmer". Métro France (in French). Retrieved 2 December 2012.
9. Daheran, Nicolas (16 December 2012). "Performance en clip". Presse Ocean (in French).
10. Béglé, Jérôme (1 December 2012). "L'offensive médiatique de Mylène Farmer". Le Point (in French). Retrieved 1 December 2012.
11. "Mylène Farmer – "À l'Ombre"" (in French). TF1. 1 December 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
12. Montet, Thomas (1 December 2012). "Mylène Farmer dévoile le très dérangeant clip de "À l'ombre"" (in French). Pure People. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
13. Chadeyron, Julien (3 December 2012). "Mylène Farmer sur TF1 avec un nouvel album "Monkey me" : elle m'a étonnée...". Le Nouvel Observateur (in French). Retrieved 3 December 2012.
14. Decant, Charles (31 October 2012). "Top Singles : Psy, Adele et Rihanna plus forts que Mylène Farmer !" (in French). Charts in France. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
15. Decant, Charles (12 November 2012). "Top Singles : record historique de ventes pour le "Skyfall" d'Adele !" (in French). Charts in France. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
16. Hamard, Jonathan (6 December 2012). "Mylène Farmer place "A l'ombre" en tête des ventes et bat son propre record" (in French). Charts in France. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
17. "Mylène Farmer — "À l'ombre", Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart" (in French). Ultratop. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
18. À l'ombre (CD-one Single liner notes) (in French). Mylène Farmer. Polydor. 2012. 372 281-7.
19. À l'ombre (Maxi CD Single liner notes) (in French). Mylène Farmer. Polydor. 2012. 372 281-6.
20. À l'ombre (Maxi CD Single liner notes) (in French). Mylène Farmer. Polydor. 2012. 372 445-7.
21. À l'ombre (12" Maxi Vinyl liner notes) (in French). Mylène Farmer. Polydor. 2012. 372 281-5.
22. À l'ombre (Promo CD-one Single liner notes) (in French). Mylène Farmer. Polydor. 2012. 372 185-4.
23. À l'ombre (Promo Maxi CD Single liner notes) (in French). Mylène Farmer. Polydor. 2012. 372 446-2.
24. ""A L'Ombre" — Mylène Farmer — Format : Téléchargement MP3" (in French). Amazon.fr. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
25. ""A L'Ombre" — Mylène Farmer — Format : Téléchargement MP3" (in French). Amazon.fr. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
26. ""A L'Ombre" — Mylène Farmer — Format : Téléchargement MP3" (in French). Amazon.fr. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
27. "Mylène Farmer – "À l'ombre" – Supports" (in French). Mylene.net. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
28. "Mylène Farmer – "À l'ombre" – Crédits" (in French). Mylene.net. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
29. "Mylène Farmer — "À l'ombre", Belgian (Flanders) Ultratip Chart" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
30. "Mylène Farmer — "À l'ombre", French Singles Chart" (in French). Lescharts. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
31. "Le classement radio, semaine du 07/12/2012" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
32. "Rapport annuel 2012 — Singles" (in French). Ultratop. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
33. "Classement des 200 premiers Singles Fusionnés par GfK, année 2012" (pdf) (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. p. 2. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
34. ""A L'Ombre" (CD Single) (CD single, Edition limitée) — Mylène Farmer — Format : CD" (in French). Amazon.fr. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
35. ""A L'Ombre" (CD Maxi) (CD single, Single Maxi, Edition limitée) — Mylène Farmer — Format : CD" (in French). Amazon.fr. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
36. ""A L'Ombre" (CD Maxi) (CD single, Single Maxi, Edition limitée) — Mylène Farmer — Format : CD" (in French). Amazon.fr. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
37. "A L'Ombre (Maxi Vinyl) (EP, Single Maxi, Edition limitée) — Mylène Farmer (Artiste) — Format : Album vinyle" (in French). Amazon.fr. Retrieved 3 December 2012.