“Yet my heart belongs to thee”

Oh, to live a quiet life, but what would that quiet life entail?

Would I perhaps love to live in the countryside, far away from the big cities of the world, enjoying the natural landscapes that surround me. Maybe I’d love to settle by the seaside, the waves crashing in and out as the night beckons to fall.

Whatever the desire, I suspect that Camille Willemart, the Belgian singer-songwriter behind the Camille Camille project, had a similar vision as well, and that feels not just reflected upon, but the makeup of the core of her second LP, “Enchanted Sea”.

I brought up the quiet life part because, regardless of what’s happening in today’s world and age, that part of the world is still, in its purest essence, natural. We live in an incredibly digitised and, some might say, artificial world. Electronic billboards surround you, placing obnoxious and over-bearing advertisements in your face, and everything is becoming less authentic as the world continues in this worrying direction.

So, when something, a book, film, or album comes along that feels out of time with today’s world, in that it is utterly grounded in raw realism, in showing that whether it’s the physical, mental or the convoluted world of the abstract, it’s all still real, it’s flawed and it’s complicated, but it’s real.

Enchanted Sea is a record that serves as a comforting reminder of our own existence and the desire for authenticity. “Bottle Song” for instance, opens the album up in a wholly unique way, the sound of human breath being blown on a bottle top, making that little funny “Whoosh” sound that I’m admittedly too familiar with. It’s a song of bliss, light in the gentle playing of the guitar, intimate in Camille’s performance, and of a love that’s been through the ringer, yet has stood tall, even in the face of all possible adversity.

Enchanted Sea is also a record that sets out what it’s going to sound like, and sticks to that notion. Which, if said idea is good, isn’t a bad thing in the slightest. Camille’s voice remains intimate throughout, whether her voice is up close and personal, or floating in the background. Even when the album does offer a change up, Camille never loses focus or sight. The “Storm-like buildup” of ‘Le Vent’ is beautifully offset to the echoed vocals that sound like they’ve been plucked straight from the deepest valley. ‘Piano Song’ is a 7-minute-long enclosed ballad where the titular piano shapes the song, it reminded me heavily of some of the hard-hitting, but still faraway piano works in songs by Ethel Cain, particularly ‘A House In Nebraska’

Lyrically, Enchanted Sea is a record characterised by the art of observation, and not just of one thing. ‘Dove or the Devil’ is an inward song of reflection and learning to regain trust, perhaps one of the album’s most sensitive songs. “Saga’s Lullaby, conceived during a quiet night sail in 2021, reflects the subdued nature of the whole record, with fleeting moment of interruption by the soft waves of the sea.

The second half of Enchanted Sea retains the core of the first 5 songs, whilst adding new touches to the mix. The opening of the title track is a conglomerate of different instruments, from Organ to Clarinet and the occasional cymbals. ‘J’ai Rêvé’ is the one of 2 songs on the record written in Camille’s mother tongue, French, and is described as a song that captures the longing for a distant lover. It certainly gives that vibe, but unfortunately my extent of French stretches to just “Oui”. The other, ‘Dans Ce Paysage’, slowly adds tiny pieces as the song goes on, Tambourine and Mouth Harp, before all slowly fade out, presumably into the distant blue sea.

The album softly glides away with ‘Humming Song’. There are no lyrics, no final statements of feeling to convey or display, it is just 6 minutes of a wonderful melody, backed by the gentle hum of Camille’s voice. I can picture Camille sat on top of a cliff, looking out into the sea, playing this song in beautiful isolation.

That may be in fact the perfect way to describe Enchanted Sea. It’s a record about the ordinary, a record about the power of one’s own journey, the ability to reflect, but also the ability to take in everything around them. Perfectly curated with some touching melodies, a soft but powerful performance by Camille, and a longing for something real. Maybe that quiet life, free from the real world doesn’t sound so bad after all.

Camille Camille: Enchanted Sea – Released 29 May 2026 (Labelman)

Camille – Saga’s Lullaby (Official Video)