At the age of 71, French 'chanson' veteran Georges Moustaki could be enjoying a well-earned retirement, tucked up in his apartment on the Ile Saint-Louis in Paris or lounging around a villa in his hometown of Alexandria, in Egypt. But given his insatiable passion for travel, this would be a monotonous life indeed. So, over the past five years or so, Moustaki has regularly tumbled out of his hammock and embarked on a trip or a concert tour, squeezing a new album out in between. These albums generally include a dozen new songs and a revival of a couple of old hits. This is precisely what he did two years ago on the album Moustaki, a twelve-track album which featured a very special bonus track, Milord (the Piaf classic which launched his songwriting career). And this is precisely what he has done once again on his latest album, Vagabond. The album, largely recorded in Rio de Janeiro at the Biscoito Fino studio, marks Moustaki's return to Brazil after a twenty-year absence. Needless to say, such a landmark album required a prestigious recording team and this is exactly what Moustaki assembled, recruiting Francis Hime (a loyal collaborator of the late Brazilian star Vinicius de Moraes) as producer.

Two reorchestrations, two tributes

Moustaki's new album also pays tribute to another late great bossa nova star, Antonio Carlos Jobim. Moustaki had already worked with Jobim (one of the original founders of bossa nova renowned for creating the legendary Girl from Ipanema). He wrote the song Tom for the Brazilian star in memory of "an encounter one February night on Broadway." And, in celebration of their erstwhile friendship, his new album also includes a reworking of Les Eaux de Mars, the French adaptation of Jobim's Aguas de Março (a song Moustaki immortalised in French and which has been a firm favourite for almost thirty years now). Then, of course, there's a revival of another cult Brazilian classic from the late 70s, Bahia, a tribute to Brazilian songwriter Jorge Amado's hometown. This track features some absolutely superb reorchestration with percussion and flute - an instrument used on nearly all eleven tracks on the album – producing an uplifting, euphoric effect on the listener.

A weakness for the female sex

Given his eternal reputation as French lover and Don Juan, it comes as no surprise to find that love and passion are major themes on Vagabond. Moustaki turns on the romance on Cet amour d’été, a deliciously nonchalant slice of bossa nova and, crooning over sensual layers of piano and flute, confesses to having a big weakness for women (J’ai grand faiblesse pour les femmes. This appears to include women in all shapes and forms, from the "delicious, poisonous, incestuous soul sister" he describes on L’Amoureuse to the "sensual eye candy" he evokes on La Femme ronde. Then there is the wonderful creature he encounters "strutting through Paris, in the gardens of Notre-Dame." Moustaki does not just set women on a pedestal, either, he invites them into the studio, too. Female vocals are an integral part of Vagabond (as they have been in so much of his previous work), providing the perfect complement to his own gravely tones. Guest stars on the new album include Paula Morelenbaum, one of Tom Jobim's former backing singers, on Tom and Sylvie Kuhn who appears on the title track,Vagabond.

A more serious note

On the whole, Vagabond is a sunny, upbeat album shot through with the colours and musical flavour of Brazil. But the album strikes a more serious note on two tracks: Les Mères Juives (the first single release from the album) and Le Soldat. Both songs, although very different in tone, touch on the question of Jewishness. The first paints a darkly comic portrait of an overly attentive mother, while the latter (The Soldier) tells the rather more tragic tale of a Jew who has spent his whole life believing in Israel, but has steadily grown more disillusioned with his dream. These songs mark the return of the old-style committed Moustaki, the protest singer who stood up for his views in 1975 with the openly anti-Franco Flamenco. Musically speaking, Le Soldat stands out from the rest of the album, too, with the piano shifting down to minimal and the overall tone becoming chilly, and almost at one point, electro. In short, Le Soldat is one of the outstanding tracks on Vagabond, a necessary cloud on an otherwise sunny horizon, a quiet moment on an otherwise hip-swaying, life-celebrating album recorded for roving souls after Moustaki's own heart.

Georges Moustaki Vagabond (Virgin) 2005

In concert at the Théâtre du Rond Point, Paris (27 - 31 December)