From the first minutes of her second album, Suzane presents her ambition: “In my joys, in my battles, I want to push my voice like Balavoine”, sings the 31-year-old artist in the opening theme of cameoAvailable this Friday. Pronounced the name of his illustrious predecessor, it is difficult not to establish the link between these two singers born forty years apart.
Of course, musical codes have evolved. This is not about the French variety: as he did with his first album you yougold record that earned her a nomination for female artist at the Victoires 2021, it is an effective electronic pop that Suzane puts at the service of chiseled texts, carried by an acute sense of rhyme.
On this occasion, the singer-songwriter ventures into more danceable rhythms, sometimes frankly festive, as in the single Belladonna. While she leaves a privileged place to printed letters with corporate reflections, which have characterized her since her beginnings.
This is where she joins the one she quotes in her song. Like Balavoine, Suzane uses her albums to tell the story of the world around her and point out what bothers her. Every age has its battles; when the interpreter aiza He told us about the Berlin Wall, poverty or anti-militarism, his heiress addresses the climate emergency, gender inequalities, the rejection of minorities and domestic violence.
“I am a product of my own generation and the world I live in,” he analyzes for BFMTV.com. “We need songs that are watered down, that give us lightness. But with this second record, I think the compromise came naturally.”
cameo marry the two: in Krsnatells us about the uprooting of migrant populations and continues with 90, an ode to childhood nostalgia. Within The girl on the fourth floorremembers her impotence before this neighbor beaten by her husband and continues with And how are you, report of their appetizers with friends. Because after the success of her first album, which allowed her to fill her first Olimpia and secure 323 concert dates, the singer feels calmer to tell herself.
A “more official” presentation
Gone are the early blue jumpsuits and signature bangs that established Suzane’s character: “Deep down, I was freaking out, and this jumpsuit helped me out as a superhero suit. But I started to feel like I was trapped in it, feeling like I was dressing up. I wanted to be honest with myself and the public, and introduce myself more officially.” The title turns Ocean (her real name), letter to herself and her fans about her doubts in the throes of success.
These fluctuations between the inner and outer worlds are even symbolized on the cover of his album, a self-portrait made in front of a mirror. As if to embody a youth in her image, ultra-aware of the injustices that surround her or the challenges that await her, but she remains attentive to herself and to her own fears, her expectations, her desires.
The clitoris is (not so) good
Speaking of wishes, they are the ones that brought him the first call to order of his young career. When she released the song six months ago clit is goodextract of cameo, was with the purported goal of addressing the taboo surrounding female (solitary) pleasure. It only took four days after it was uploaded to YouTube to restrict access to the clip to those over the age of 18. A blade that Suzane had not seen drop, and that can be costly in terms of visibility for a rising artist:
“I didn’t think it was that taboo. I’m a bit of a utopian. I guess unfortunately I’ll be one of the many girls who have tried to talk about these things and been told ‘Shut up, you’re bothering’. We’re here.”
The censorship of this clip, undeniably sexy but not frankly sexual, betrays, according to her, “a total inconsistency”: “A 16-year-old boy can come across a pornographic video without breaking his head too much, we put naked girls to sell pots of yogurt or motorcycles , but to see the clip clit is good it’s quite a story. Women are asked to show themselves, to arouse the desire of others, but from the moment they speak of their own pleasure, everyone is ashamed. “
“Defend a message of freedom”
This social leg is nothing new for Suzane: from her first album, the singer put her convictions to music and took some of her fights outside the recording studios. As in 2021, when she gave a benefit concert at the foot of Mont-Blanc, broadcast live, to warn of her thaw. Or last May, when she was associated with the magazine Stubborn for a short film denouncing ordinary LGBTphobia.
A topic that I had already mentioned in 2020 with the shock song little guy, chilling chronicle of a difficult coming-out. Homosexuality is always present in cameo, with a big difference: this time it is no longer a topic. The few love songs on the album are simply gendered feminine. As a wish, after having said, to normalize:
“I didn’t want to use neutral adjectives, to maintain ambiguity. I am writing a love song to a woman, it is very clear, she is this same person who inspires me all these songs. I didn’t want to get in the way. to tell him how much I love him (…) The most important thing for me is to defend a message of freedom.
“I try to do better than yesterday”
A sincerity that resonates with his audience. Her eyes mist up when she remembers her meeting with an old man, who had come to see her in concert: “He told me that he was married, that he had had children, but that he had always been homosexual and that he had not been able to live his life During my program he saw the young people come out of the flags, being who they are, and he said thank you, for them and for him, adding that he would have loved to be there in his day. Suzane. It was me who wanted to thank him. I just thought of him during three days “.
So Suzane, a committed artist? Although she is on all fronts, she has long opposed this label: “At first, they called me an activist and I didn’t understand why I felt like I was describing the world I live in.” She today she gives up: “I think I can officially say, without destabilizing myself, that I am committed, in my life as an artist as in my life as a citizen. I’m not saying that I’m doing better.” than everyone else, I’m just trying to do better than what I was doing yesterday. It’s not bad anymore.” We can’t speak for Balavoine, but the succession seems assured.
Source: BFM TV
