As regular as clockwork, Alain Souchon has resurfaced on the French music scene after a six-year absence with La Vie Théodore - an album decidedly more colourful, more upbeat and, on the whole, a lot happier than his last offering Au ras des pâquerettes. Fans were given a foretaste of this new album, on which Souchon stepped up collaboration with his son, Pierre (who co-wrote three songs), thanks to the single Et si en plus y'a plus personne which has received extensive airplay on French radio over the past few months. The song finds Souchon taking an agnostic stand. However, on the title track of his new album, the singer vaunts the joys of the mystic life, expressing his admiration for Théodore Monod, a French geographer renowned for trekking off into the wilderness with nothing but "a bible, a man's heart and a little aluminium beaker in hand."        

RFI Musique: When you write songs in the first person are they always about yourself?
Alain Souchon: That has no bearing on things whatsoever. What matters is whether a song rings true, it doesn't matter whether it's literally true or not. Songs aren't meant to reflect reality; they should convey an emotional truth. There's a song on the new album called C'était mieux quand c'était toi (It was better when it was you). That song's not about me regretting some girl I had a teenage romance with and then ended up regretting the rest of my life. It's not about that at all. It's a song about the nature of regret itself and the way I've chosen to illustrate it is as if I were regretting a woman. I've noticed that in interviews people are always saying "I've no regrets" as if there were something shameful about having regrets. But everyone ends up regretting something, whether it be that you've behaved badly on some occasion or you weren't very nice to someone or you let a friend down. Personally, I like the idea of regret.

You seem to draw inspiration from other people's work in your songwriting. On the new album there's a nod to Françoise Sagan's novels via the song Bonjour tristesse. And the film Sue Lost in Manhattan has obviously influenced Le Mystère ...
When you sit down and create a song you end up using things that have touched you in some way. And why shouldn't those things be a film or a song? ... What I find fascinating about the film Sue Lost in Manhattan is the idea that you can actually be lost in a city, as lost as Robinson Crusoe is on his island.

There's an absolutely wonderful line in Le Mystère which goes "It isn't so much my life I enjoy / As the mystery at the heart of it ..."
But that's absolutely true! There are times when you don't understand yourself, when you can't get to what's going on at the core. I love coming out with nonsense in day-to-day life, just sitting there and saying whatever comes into my head. But I find it's tiring. I find myself wondering why I can't be normal and serious more of the time. It's a complete mystery to me ...

There's a widely held belief in the music world and that is that there are two kinds of songwriters: those who have a hard time finding subject matter and those who have a hard time expressing their subject matter ...
Well, I'm both! I have a hard time coming up with a subject and a hard time talking about it when I do. But sometimes all you need is a line. That line triggers off something and then you know you're on the right track and things will develop from there. That's a brilliant moment, believe me!

When asked about their influences, a lot of younger French singers and songwriters happily cite you. How does that make you feel?
I don't think that what I do has a great deal in common with what others are doing, actually. OK, sure, they might like the career path I've followed or the way I've handled this profession. I know people like Albin de la Simone, Gérald de Palmas and Sandrine Kiberlain appreciate me, but I can't personally see what influence I'm meant to have had on them. And I think the problem gets worse when it's closer to home. My son only has to open his mouth and everyone says "Just listen to that voice. You sound exactly like your father!" Even if singers like Camille or Mathieu Boogaerts say they like me, I personally can't see the resemblance. I don't think there's any trace of me in their work.

In the press release accompanying the album you said you'd considered "making a concept album about people I like... But on reflection, I decided I'd be less good at the job than Vincent Delerm. So I made a normal album instead." That's a hell of a tribute to Delerm!
Well, I'm always hearing that Vincent Delerm's meant to be the new Alain Souchon! And I have to say I'm a big fan of what he does. We've actually written to each other, you know. And one of the things I told him was that he does things very differently to me and that's better for him. When I first heard his song Fanny Ardant et moi, I admit I found the music a bit basic. But then I went to see him in concert at L'Olympia and I was blown away by the contact he had with the audience. His show was really amazing!

Generally speaking, what do you think of the new generation of young singers on the current French scene?
I think they're often obsessed with their sound and the spitefulness of their lyrics. But they shouldn't forget the Au clair de la lune side of things. A song is a piece of music that people shouldn't be able to get out of their heads. I first heard Ruby Tuesday when I was twenty years old. I'm sixty now – and I still have that melody running round my head!

Out of his generation, I think Pierre does have that ability to write songs that stay in your head, both the ones he's written for himself and those he's written for Sandrine. And that's why I believe in him!

Do you think you'll ever get involved in films again at some point in your career?
I loved acting. It was a brilliant experience! But it's like when you try your hand at golf – you love it at first, but then you get to the point where it bores you stiff, so you stop. That's the way it was with films for me. The thing I loved about making films was meeting all these exceptional people like Claude Berri, Pierre Granier-Deferre and Jacques Doillon. As I often got to play the lead I was very close to the directors and a strong bond sprang up between us. Another great thing about being involved in film-making was meeting actresses like Jane Birkin and Isabelle Adjani – incredibly beautiful and intelligent women! Remember what Bernard Shaw said? "Actors are less than men; actresses are more than women!"

But you've never been tempted by acting in the theatre?
No. I wouldn't know how to. I've often been offered things in the theatre, but what I enjoy doing is writing something like Ultramoderne solitude and having people turn round and say "That's brilliant!" And as I have the opportunity to do that, that's precisely what I do. When you're famous, people are always ringing up offering you anything and everything! But the trick is to stick to what you do best.

Would we ever find you involved in politics then?
I've never seen anything good in politics. Personally, what I like doing is sitting back on the sidelines, then watching what's going on and writing my songs.

Alain Souchon La Vie Théodore (Virgin) 2005