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Vanessa Paradis, seven years on
A new album at last!
Paris
04/09/2007 -
RFI Musique: How are you feeling right now just as your album is hitting record stores?
Vanessa Paradis: Well, you go through a lot of different phases really - which is totally normal when you’ve spent so long on something! We took a long time over the making of this new album. When I was in the studio making it I’d say my mood was predominantly enthusiastic. I was wrapped up in all the buzz of the creative process, surrounded by friends, driven by a desire to try new things and experiment with new angles. But as the release date drew closer my mood changed, I felt more like “I’ve got to stop and start things all over again from scratch!” I’m so nervous right now that it’s hard to pin down my thoughts and say whether my overall mood is satisfaction or the feeling of “oh no! I should do it all over again!”
Was working with M again an obvious choice?
No, it wasn’t. It’s not something I decided on the minute I finished the last album, you know. In fact, I didn’t even think of it to begin with. When I started work on material for the new album I basically locked myself away on my own and tried to come up with a few songs. But the moment I started working with Matthieu again I realised things just felt so wonderful, so natural and so right that there was no question of working with anyone else!
One of the impressions I’ve had about you over the years is that you’ve always seemed to want to keep things as natural and simple as possible in your career…
There are some people who go all out to work with such and such a producer because they want to get a particular sound or because they feel they’ll really learn something in the process... Personally, I don’t think one way of working is better than another. All I know is I don’t want to suffer unnecessarily.
A great deal of credit for the new album obviously goes to M and Frank Monnet. But what about the other songwriters and composers. How did they come on board?
It was basically a case of one thing leading to another. I did this scene with (singer-songwriter) Thomas Fersen in Serge Frydman’s film Mon ange. I’m a big fan of Fersen’s work and I seized the opportunity to ask him to write a song for me. Jean Fauque’s lyrics for Chet Baker were actually sent to Matthieu - and it was Matthieu who asked Brigitte Fontaine to write a song for me. That was how Irrésistiblement came about. As for Junior Suite that came from lyrics Didier Golemanas originally gave to Alain Chamfort to write music for back when we were working on the last album, Bliss.
Talking of your last album, it was seven years between then and setting foot in a recording studio again. Did it feel like you had to start over and learn everything again from scratch?
To be honest, all sorts of contradictory feelings come rushing in at the same time. A feeling of naturalness and the urge to create which is obviously the driving force when you’re making an album. Then, of course, there’s the issue of getting your vocal cords working again. You forget that they’re a muscle like any other muscle in the body and when you don’t work them on a regular basis… Basically, if you haven’t sung for a long time the long notes and the high notes don’t just come out by magic. You have to work on getting them right again. So yes, going back into the studio was a case of learning things again, but it wasn’t ever daunting like when you go back to doing sport and find you’ve totally rusted up! Singing is such a pleasurable sensation…
Does Divinidylle wave goodbye to the old Vanessa in some ways?
I’m like everyone else, you know. I don’t feel I’ve changed all of a sudden. I feel there’s been a certain evolution over the years. We all grow up, get older and in the process we change and try new things.
Well, there’s one very conscious change and that is that I’ve finally written some of my own songs this time round. Up until this point, I’ve made three albums performing other people’s material. But this time round I really felt like getting involved in that creative process myself. Being an artist means giving your all, not just taking advantage of other people’s talent. It got to a point where I felt I just couldn’t proceed any differently. I really admire people who do their own albums, writing all the music and lyrics.
You composed the music for five songs and the lyrics for one on Divinidylle. Do you think you’ll ever write an entire album yourself?
I’m not sure… I have to say I’m also very happy singing other people’s songs. When someone like Thomas Fersen sends me a song, I sit down and listen to it and think it’s absolutely brilliant. I could never imagine turning round and saying "No, sorry, I only want to sing my own material!" Besides, I’m not sure I could write enough material for an entire album. I’m only too well aware of how time-consuming it was to do four or five songs for Divinidylle. Maybe one day, who knows? … When I write a song my main concern is not to be too immodest. But the thing is, I don’t really manage to tell stories in my songs, I write more about how I feel. And what often happens is I’m not too happy with the style. That’s why I only kept the lyrics for one song on the new album.
The last time you went out on tour was six years ago. Have you missed performing live?
No, not really, because I have to say I’m happy with all the other things I’ve been doing in the meantime. OK, so I admit there are times when I do get a bit impatient when I’ve decided I’m ready to get back out on the road again... Coming up with new material and recording the new songs is a lengthy business. But it’s actually a nice feeling when you can’t wait to get back out there again!
When you were recording your new songs were you already thinking about how they’d go down live?
I think that when you’re doing a fast song you automatically start imagining the effect it will have on an audience. You can’t help thinking about the moment you’ll get up there and get everyone dancing, clapping, jumping up and down and singing along.
You included a number of cover versions on your last tours. Do you have any idea of what you might cover this time round?
There are so many songs you could cover… The trick is deciding which ones will fit in with my own songs. It’s always a difficult choice to make!
Bertrand Dicale
Translation : Julie Street
27/10/2000 -
