photo by Marikel Lahana
The café in the Hotel Michelberger in Berlin is loud and busy – even on a Tuesday afternoon. But this is where NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION meet French singer and songwriter JEANNE ADDED to talk about her upcoming album and how she finally finished it.
Be Sensational – That’s quite a statement. But that’s exactly what Ms. Added called her album (out on February 19th). Why pick such a bold album title? ‘There wasn’t a great plan behind it,’ the singer explains. She just had this urge to complete this album. ‘I needed to write these songs. So I did. It took me a long time just to do it. It was a fight with myself. Saying it like that makes it sound really dark and unhappy but it’s not. It’s an album full of hope and love.’
‘I needed to write these songs. So I did.’
JEANNE ADDED started her musical career not with the electro pop (with undeniable rock elements to it) she now is known for, but rather began with a classical music education, then turning to jazz music later on. So you’d think that writing an album and creating music would come easier. However, being surrounded by these genres actually made it difficult to create own stuff, ADDED continues. When prompted if she’d mix the pop with her classic or jazz, the singer answers pensively. ‘I don’t listen to that kind of music from before that much anymore so, right now I’m not really into mixing my styles.’ That being said, the singer adds smiling, that maybe she’ll come back to it when she’s old.
Photo by Marikel Lahana
JEANNE ADDED’s music has a hypnotic ring to it. Especially her powerful and gritty sounding single A War Is Coming just takes hold of your being and suddenly you just hear yourself growling along to JEANNE ADDED’s voice. It’s hard to categorize the singer to a certain musical influence so we decided to just ask her who impacted her music.
‘For this album, someone like PEACHES was important for me. There’s something in her music and way of doing it. It’s like she says to me ‘Yes, you can do it – just the way you want to do it. There’s no rule’.’
And that was very important for me while I was writing.” But also the crazy vibes of Courtney Love’s HOLE gave ADDED the energy to continue writing on her album. But it’s not only these strong female leads that have inspired JEANNE ADDED in her music. ‘Some of the stuff I’ve been listening to the most over the last few years were actually artists like JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, KENDRICK LAMAR and KANYE WEST so it’s rather a wide range to choose from.’
‘My songs are really personal and I really needed to share them with women.’
Although her band now has a man in it, JEANNE ADDED started off her band with only female band members – a constellation that’s not seen much of anymore. ‘Men work together all the time, I don’t see why we should not. And I really needed that (to have a all female band) for the beginning of this adventure. My songs are really personal and I really needed to share them with women. I just didn’t want anyone to gender comment and interfere with the music.’
With the album finally coming out in the rest of Europe and with many live dates coming up, the French electro pop/rock artist is grateful. ‘I feel like I’m living my dream right now. I’m a musician. I’m very lucky. I can write music, I can sing music, play music. So what I live by is to really honour that chance every day the best I can. I try to be present everywhere I am which isn’t always easy, but that’s what I try to do.’
The some of you who have been lucky enough to catch JEANNE ADDED at the EUROSONIC FESTIVAL last week, will know what a hypnotic and energetic performance this woman delivers. For all of you that missed it, console yourself with the album Be Sensational dropping end of February and tour dates in France already up and the rest to follow.
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