À Corsaire,
Your conclusion, "Until proven otherwise, the most probable explanation is that Alizée is indeed, rather shallow...." bothers me a teeny bit. I mean: why do you even worry? Just listen to some of her music, you crazy Canuck!
Sure, she's no Marcel Proust, nor is she Jean-Paul Sartre, and she's not even Simone de Beauvoir -- but none of them ever invented the JEAM dance, did they?
On the other hand, Alizée is a caring and compassionate entertainer, one who does a lot of work for charitable causes, including us (esp. if she gives us another autograph session with Scruffydog!)
Musically, no, she doesn't write her own material or play an instrument like Taylor Swift or a lot of other competitors. But she knows what she does well, and she does that very, very well. With grace, with style, and with integrity.
I really like the fact that "5" is billed as "chansons françaises", not "pop" or any other genre. We've heard that this album is a return to her roots, and so far, I've been hearing not just Alizée's roots, but the roots of French music in general - all the way back to Mistinguett, Edith Piaf, Jacques Brel, Serge Gainesbourg, and probably thousands of other influences. Throughout the 80's and 90's, most French pop stars tried so hard to sound "American" or "English" that the French musical tradition almost became totally lost. I like the fact that it's still thriving anyway! (Which may be more than we can say about Rock.)
Whew! Okay, back on topic here, I guess I'm saying that as a modern French musician, I think Alizée shows her depth in making the choices she makes and doing what she does, the way she does it.
Again, she not be a major writer or philosopher, but I'm still pretty certain that Mlle. Jacotey is the best damn Alizée the world has ever seen.
Corsaire, if you want to be a fan of somebody "deep", maybe you should be checking out Patti Smith?
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