"Qu’est-ce qu’est devenu Aimé ?" – “Where has Aimé gone?” asks  Pierpoljak, in a capella style, on the opening track. "Il est mort" –  “He is dead”, comes the reply, charged with a solemn intensity. An album’s opening lyrics are usually meant to pique the listener’s interest, and rarely are they as dark as this! There is perhaps some continuity with his previous album which ended with C’est fini (it’s finished), and the lyric "Je sens venir la fin" (I feel the end coming), but the author of Je fais c’que j’veux (I do what I want) is obviously no respecter of convention.

The twelve tracks of the new album follow in the footsteps of 2006’s Je ne blesserai personne, while moving away somewhat from Kingston-style reggae and developing a more acoustic sound, bringing the artist a little closer to French chanson tradition.

Pierpoljak’s long-term connections with the French Caribbean are highlighted on Aimé, a homage to the Martinican poet Aimé Césaire, and also in his choice of bass player, the Guadeloupian Thierry Fanfant, who has played with Pierpoljak in the past and has this time brought along his brother Jean-Philippe who is on drums.

Supported by a small ensemble of musicians, Pierpoljak has come up with some beautiful melodies and sharp lyrics that tend towards the ironic. J’me comprends tout seul (I understand me all by myself) combines all these elements well, although the title itself suggests a certain navel-gazing that across an entire album can be a bit confining and counterproductive. By playing too heavily on the personal and intimate, Pierpoljak sometimes seems to cut himself off from the outside world.