Benjamin Schoos

Profession Chanteur

FREAKSVILLE. CD/DL Dramatic string-laden Gainsbourg pop from below the radar Belgian balladeer. Every day, it seems, is Valentine’s Day for Benjamin Schoos. Le grand fromage of throwback label Freaksville and author of Belgium’s doomed 2009 Eurovision entry Copycat, Schoos boasts a Gitanes and gin-soaked croon that’s Serge Gainsbourg in excelsis and a seemingly insatiable hard-on for love. Allied to a grasp of swooping orchestration that’s equal parts Jean-Claude Vannier and Phil Spector, there’s drama to spare in Profession Catcheur’s Theremin theatrics, the lush darting strings of A Mort L’Amour and the bouncy organ-driven pop of Laetitia Sadier duet Je Ne Vois Que Vous. Schoos even breaks from this winning mould to unveil a swoonsome falsetto over the jazz-brushed drums of I Love You with not a whiff of Euro cheese.