“Something strange happened to Philippe Robrecht when he was hiding in lockdown on Inishbofin, a small island of only 170 inhabitants on the Atlantic coast of Ireland: he became – again – a pop star.” This is how The Guardian begins the piece about Philippe Robrecht.
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The journalist describes how Robrecht came to the fore again thanks to a cover in ‘Love for Music’ (translated into ‘Love for Music’ in English). A few weeks ago Willy Sommers covered ‘Magic’ from 1992. Both the cover and the original made it to the charts again after broadcast. “It’s very unusual,” Robrecht responds in The Guardian. “This has never happened before. People liked the new version, but it turned out they were even more excited about the original. I received a lot of feedback and was contacted by the press and radio. A lot of people also sent me things via social media. ”
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That Robrecht lives on the Irish island of Inishbofin was known for some time. What The Guardian finds so remarkable now is not only that the musician is in the spotlight again thanks to ‘Love for Music’, but also that he made two more albums after almost ten years. The first, ‘2020’, was already released in November last year. The second, ‘2021’, is normally released this week. “The lockdown meant that I could spend a lot of time and dedication on writing songs,” says Robrecht. That he disappeared from the spotlight years ago, he explains: “I stayed focused on music. I wrote songs for musicals,” campaigns and tributes. Music is an art, a passion. But the show business around it wasn’t really my thing. I’m not that approachable as a person. ”
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Whether he will make more music again, the Guardian journalist wants to finally know. “I’m just a writer”, Robrecht answers. “The numbers come or they don’t come.”
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