🔵 Single : Laurent Moitrot • The High Life

  From CANADA 

French singer-songwriter and guitarist Laurent Moitrot turns a difficult personal story into a warm, witty and hopeful blues-pop song with “The High Life.” Set in a French social-housing estate, the track brings colourful characters and everyday struggles to life, finding humour and optimism in an unlikely setting.

Produced by James Mastro and recorded at Magic Door Recording Studio in New Jersey, the single blends blues, indie rock and classic rock influences. Its French counterpart, “Le Blues du H.L.M.,” offers a darker perspective on the same story.

Following his 2025 EP Donne-moi du temps, Moitrot confirms his talent for character-driven songwriting, with echoes of Ray Davies, the Rolling Stones and Mott the Hoople. “The High Life” is ultimately a catchy, uplifting song about resilience, humour and hope.

SELECTION SORTIES

T

he High Life? For French singer-songwriter and guitarist Laurent Moitrot, it starts in a social-housing block, not a penthouse. Born from a darker song about a marriage falling apart, his new single “The High Life” turns that same setting into a swaggering, character-driven blues-pop story about ordinary people, hard times and the stubborn possibility of something better. Released via New Jersey’s Magic Door Record Label, the catchy bilingual single pairs the English title track with its French counterpart, "Le Blues du H.L.M." - two versions of the same world, seen through very different emotional lenses.

Produced by James Mastro, renowned for his work with The Bongos, Mott the Hoople, Ian Hunter, Patti Smith and John Cale, "The High Life" was recorded, mixed and mastered by Ray Ketchem (Guided by Voices, Elk City, Gramercy Arms, Luna, The Dambuilders) at Magic Door Recording Studio in Montclair, New Jersey. Moitrot is accompanied by Mastro on keyboards and Ketchem on percussion, as well as to bassist Paul Page (Ian Hunter, John Cale, Bo Diddley) and Doug Yowell (The Joe Jackson Band, Suzanne Vega, Judy Collins, Howard Jones) on drums and percussion.

This single follows up his six-track “Donne-moi du temps” EP, recorded with the same team in May 2025, which Moitrot calls “the album I’ve dreamt of making all my life”. Packed with gritty, angular, crashing riffs that recall the energy and excitement of early Rolling Stones, Dr. Feelgood, Fleetwood Mac, Mott the Hoople and Mick Ronson, this mini-album marked a new chapter in Moitrot’s songwriting, bringing his French-language material to the fore.

Drawing on nearly five decades as a performer, Moitrot’s swaggering, character-driven offering turns a difficult subject into something unexpectedly warm, funny and hopeful. While the two songs share the same musical foundation, the English title track offers a strikingly different perspective than the original French version.

"The High Life" explores ordinary lives, difficult circumstances and the small but important decision to keep trying. This swaggering blues-pop indie rock song finds humour, character and optimism in an unlikely setting, while its French-language counterpart, "Le Blues du H.L.M.", reveals the more troubled personal story from which it originated.  Written as his marriage was falling apart, it is set among the inhabitants of an H.L.M. (social housing typically associated with large apartment blocks), reflecting the sadness and uncertainty he felt at that time.

• From Montclair to “Le Blues du H.L.M.”

"In May 2025, I was in Montclair, NJ to record a six-track mini album, produced by James Mastro. In contrast with my first album from 2020, which featured material written in English, this one was in French and included a French version of Mastro's song "My God". Among these, one of  them in particular -- "Le Blues du H.L.M." -- seemed to please Mastro very much," says Laurent Moitrot.

• The Story Behind the Song

• From “The Social Housing Blues” to “The High Life”

He initially translated the lyrics, under the title "The Social Housing Blues", but the darker mood of the original no longer reflected how he felt. The breakthrough came during a conversation with his Manchester friend Andrew Field, who reminded him of the tongue-in-cheek expression “living the high life”, used to describe life on a social housing estate.

The new title changed its direction. Inspired by the character-driven storytelling of Ray Davies, Moitrot introduced Curtiss, the lonely man; Mary, the pretty girl; and Nigel, the neighbourhood bully. He also added a fourth verse, bringing a sense of optimism to their lives.

The resultant is a companion piece: the same setting seen through a different emotional lens. Where the original captures a moment of personal despair, "The High Life" finds warmth and humour in the lives of its characters, leaving them with the possibility of something better. Ultimately, "The High Life" is a song about finding another way to tell a difficult story — with a little more distance, a little more humour and, ultimately, a little more hope.

This instinct for turning everyday lives into songs places Moitrot within a long tradition of French rock songwriting, from the wry observations of Jacques Dutronc and Jacques Higelin to the more contemporary perspective of Jean Leloup, while his musical foundation remains firmly rooted in blues and rock.

• From Angers to the International Blues Scene

From Angers, France, Moitrot has been performing since 1976, playing the piano from seven. After discovering the Rolling Stones “Exile on Main St.” in his teens, he moved toward guitar and rock music. For decades, he balanced a life between his music and a career as a mathematics teacher – maintaining a steady presence on the regional blues and rock scene.

Moitrot’s debut album "Little Monsters Most Of Them Blue.s" was produced by Laurent Thibault, a founding member of Magma and former director of the legendary Château d’Hérouville studio, which had hosted 
David Bowie, Marvin Gaye, and Fleetwood Mac. He subsequently released an EP with his Dr. Feelgood tribute project “Hands Up!”

As of August 18, "The High Life" is everywhere digitally, including  Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp, where his back catalogue can also be found. 

Laurent Moitrot

The High Life

Magic Door Record Label.
Produced by James Mastro
(The Bongos, Mott the Hoople, Ian Hunter, Patti Smith, John Cale)

18 August 2026

CREDITS
Lyrics & Music written by Laurent Moitrot
Laurent Moitrot - guitars & vocals
Doug Yowell - drums & percussion
Paul Page - bass
James Mastro - keyboards
Ray Ketchem - percussion
Produced by James Mastro
Recorded, mixed & mastered by Ray Ketchem
at Magic Door Recording, Montclair, NJ
Cover artwork photo by Frugal Flyer 
Released by Magic Door Record Label
Video created by David Fagin
Artist photos by Alan Fournier 
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR


Keep up with Laurent Moitrot
Website | Bandcamp | Facebook 
 Instagram | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Music 
 
Keep up with Magic Door Record Label
Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram 
 Soundcloud | YouTube | Magic Door Studio

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