Tim Dup

Tim Dup (the abbreviation of Timothée Duperray) released his first single in 2016 and it was immediately clear that many other gems would follow. That amazing song had a not-so-amazing title: “TER Centre”, the name of the train he took every day to commute from his native city of Rambouillet to Paris for about an hour. “TER Centre” chronicled those endless journeys, both monotonous and eventful, with vivid details and a sparse melody on the piano, creating a whirlwind of emotions. This powerful song was only the beginning for this 21-year-old boy, who looked even younger.

Last autumn, Tim Dup finally released his first album. Its title is not only a great oxymoron, but also a fitting description of his own music: Mélancolie heureuse, or in English “Happy melancholy”. He adds a few electro and hip-hop elements, but mostly remains in the great tradition of a very French genre: la chanson française. The result is confident and fragile at the same time, disillusioned but hopeful, in a nutshell: full of the paradoxes of young adulthood. On stage, he prefers not to have any special effects to enhance his stripped-back, emotionally-charged songs. It takes courage to stand up there alone with only keyboards to keep him company. Tim Dup doesn’t look too intimidated, though. His music is powerful enough to transcend everything. What’s left is just his autobiographical stories mixing light and darker moods, like a modern Charles Baudelaire whose spleen is ideal.

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