RFI Musique - - New - Anggun goes urban

Anggun goes urban

Elévation

Paris

02/01/2009 -

Three years on from Luminescence, Indonesia-born Anggun has changed tack with her return album, Elévation. The R&B sounding disc was put together with the hip hop producer pair Tefa and Masta (Diam’s, Rohff, Sinik and Kery James). The result is a dozen eclectic but polished numbers that sit somewhere between chanson and urban atmosphere.

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RFI Musique: Elévation seems to mark a turning point in your career with a move towards R&B and urban music.
Anggun: Over almost ten years of career, I’ve explored quite a few musical styles. When I was starting out back in Indonesia, I even played in a hard rock band. In France I’ve been through pop and chanson. I loved Nelly Furtado’s last album, which was a huge inspiration for us. It’s a perfect example of a successful collaboration between a pop singer and a hip hop producer (Ed.’s note: Timbaland). But in no way are we trying to be a kind of second Nelly Furtado. The idea wasn’t to turn me into a new R&B singer. The most important thing for me was to work with hip hop producers. It’s a world I’ve never travelled in, except on a few particular occasions for live duets or with DJ Cam.

What is, in fact, the difference between working with a variety producer and a hip hop producer?
It was the first time I’d been in a studio with no musicians. You don’t use a pianist or a guitarist to write songs, you use music samples. I wasn’t used to writing in what you might call a cold sound space. But in the end, I enjoyed being able to think up a tune or a composition from a just a loop and an atmosphere. Tefa and Masta are mood creators, and we worked on colours and rhythms, and tried to fill up the spaces with tunes that were catchy without being cheap. I was a bit lost to begin with, but the whole point was to shake up old habits and get rid of some of the automatic things.

How did the partnership with Tefa and Masta go?
I hadn’t thought it would be so easy, so friendly and “normal”. Like a lot of people, I had quite a few set ideas about the rap world. I’d even say I had a pretty inaccurate view of it. When I went to the studio with my armada of gay friends they were a bit thrown to start with. Rap is a pretty macho world after all, and you don’t talk about love much or show your feelings. We had a lot of laughs in the studio and they weren’t “bad boys” at all. They don’t eat fast food, they eat slow food, they call their Mums a lot…. When I saw Tefa for the first time he talked to me about Aznavour, Renaud and the French song scene. He didn’t just launch into talking about Rund DMC or the Beastie Boys! Both of them actually have quite a lot of pop music knowledge. They’re very complementary. Masta doesn’t talk much, but Tefa’s just the opposite, he’s a joker. Both of them work really hard. I even got locked up (laughter).

What do you mean by that?
Masta’s a monster of perfection. He freaks out a lot of singers with his nitpicking. Sessions are never-ending with him. I usually finish a song in three hours. But with him, even after five hours I hadn’t finished. He forced me to be incredibly rigorous about my work. At one point, because I was pregnant and my hormones were racing, I ran off. The next day, he locked me up me with a chair blocking the other side of the door (laughter).

Had you already heard work Tefa and Masta had done for other rappers?
While we were recording Elévation, Kery James was recording his album, A l’ombre du show business. He made me listen to his tracks every time. I was really moved by the quality of his work and his lyrics. His album makes me cry, literally. No record, whatever the style, has ever made me feel that way. That was a revelation for me. They have a way of writing that I would have loved to have had on my previous albums.

You’ve said that rap isn’t recognised for its full worth in France.
Gainsbourg said that song was a minor art. A lot of rappers say to me, “We’re a minority in a minor art, and we don’t really get noticed”. But for me, rap is the most exciting, creative musical trend in the French song scene, and the most poignant too.

In your album there is also a folk-style song sung with a guitar.
Yes, I dedicated it to my daughter, who followed the recording of the whole disc from inside my belly. I wanted to dedicate this song to her in a different, sparer, more intimate musical range. I also wanted to alternate atmospheres between piano-voice ballads and rock and enlarge the musical palette, which is something I’ve been since the start.

To what extent has dressing things up in an R&B style helped your singing develop?
The flow is obviously different because the phrases have shorter melodies. It’s a style that calls for a lot more expression. I’ve also recorded an album in English and I sing differently in different languages. I always write in English, I’m sorry to say. French is still new to me, even though I’ve been living in France for ten years. And then I don’t want to miss out on other writers. I love working in a team, and the exchange and teamwork you get from it. I don’t want to be the person who does everything on her own. I wouldn’t be able to. For Elévation, I surrounded myself with rap and slam writers like Tunisiano and Julie Grignon. Actually, from now on I only intend working with rappers and slammers.