Frédérique Dastrevigne is the sweetly voiced, banjo plucking, French songstress who performs under the psuedonym of Fredda and "Toutes Mes Aventures" is her debut solo album. Though Fredda as a soloist, is fairly fresh on the Nouvelle Scène Française, she's hardly unknown to that corner of the music world. Before going solo, Frédérique performed in duet with her partner Pascal Parisot. As on the cover Fredda holds the string to a single red balloon, you might think it's some kind of homage to German singer Nena's 80s hit "99 Luft Balloons", but this is without question a folky, French pop album, so don't even go there. The center of Fredda's world is the melody, not the hook.

1. Barry White
2. Bandit Manchot
3. Le rose de filles
4. Cinéma
5. Toutes vos aventures
6. Insomnie
7. J'aime J'aime
8. Pas par moi
9. Rosa
10. Hôtesse wagon-lits

These songs tell stories of all of her adventures and as long as you can open up to their sugared, folk-pop (or pop-folk if you prefer) lullabys, and I'm not sure how you couldn't, you won't need to speak French to understand what this woman is and was feeling. Titles like "Barry White", "Cinéma", and "Insomnie" can tell you enough about the highs and lows of each songs emotions.

She is joined on the album by Pascal Parisot who plays piano and provides some beautiful string and horn arrangements.

This is music that's so beautifully written and sung, and with such a lightly played hand when it comes to what American listeners would consider "pop" music, it truly deserves all the praise it's given. Her vocals are soft and breathy, but playing the stereotypical French lolita is not at all the style of Fredda's assuredly feminine tones. For time shared by lovers, or for quiet moments to simply sit back and enjoy living, Toutes mes aventures is a perfect soundtrack.

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Originally released by Les Disques Rayes in France on Sep. 7, 2007

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