On the third track of Rite cruel, Bernard Lavilliers sets to music a text he did not write: Berceuse des enfants d’Europe, by Louis Cauchois. This choice connects the new album, whose release on 23 October 2026 has been announced by Universal Music, with the poetry of the Resistance.
A text discovered at Seghers
In his interview with Erwan Perron for Télérama, published on 24 October, Lavilliers explains that he discovered the poem in a reprint of La Résistance et ses poètes, 1940-1945, Pierre Seghers’s anthology. He says he was struck by the rhythm of the language, which made it easier for him to set the text to music.
The singer also links the title Rite cruel to an anagram: « l’écriture » (writing). The connection clarifies what he means by his work: responding to the times with words, while continuing to draw on poets.
An adaptation among new songs
The credits for the official book-and-disc edition confirm the text by Louis Cauchois, with music by Bernard Lavilliers and Michaël Lapie. Berceuse comes after Coriace and Ligne de feu. The three tracks are therefore brought together right at the start of the album.
The rest of this edition includes, among others, Kinshasa, Samarcande and Rio No Inverno. In Télérama, Lavilliers recounts his musical encounters in Kinshasa and Rio, while presenting minimalist rock as the project’s main direction. These details describe his intentions and the album’s references; this factual overview is not based on a critical listening by our editorial team.
Bernard Lavilliers in Auxerre in April 2008. Benoît Derrier / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.
