Your texts have a real poetic dimension, with lots of images and references. Where do you find this inspiration in the form of your writing?
I try to write what I like to read. I spent my time reading stories, so I wanted to transcribe this way of writing. I also really liked artists who mixed a sometimes very raw side and a very lyrical side in terms of their writing. So I think I wanted to make texts that I liked first.
And yet, despite the references or this very elaborate writing, many people find their way…
I think the slightly dramatic side can still please people. It leads to that feeling we have when we were told stories when we were children.
Basically, your songs are very personal, but they also resonate in a collective way. What pushes you to write?
I think anger and frustration play a lot in my desire to write. Already, I was writing songs to get better, to evacuate certain subjects. And obviously, as I am far from being unique, the subjects that frustrate me and that make me angry can speak to a lot of people.
Your piece Rome aroused a lot of reactions, including in masculinist circles. How do we deal with that?
At first it was a bit of a shock. But afterwards I told myself that I didn’t have to deal with that. I’m not going to adapt my way of doing things in any way. It just took me a little time to get used to the amount of messages that were a little too virulent. It loses a little of its effect when it is the 37th message which threatens the same thing.
Is it scary despite everything?
Initially, yes. It’s mainly the quantity more than anything else. But I’ve been on the networks for a long time, so I was a bit used to it. I knew it existed.
We can say that you are a committed artist. In your opinion, does an artist necessarily have to be one?
I think everything is political. From the moment we voluntarily decide not to get involved, it remains a position. And otherwise, we’re certainly not making art, we’re making entertainment. Artists will always be somewhat engaged, otherwise they are entertainers.
What revolts you in society today?
There are so many things. But I think that’s precisely what is part of my revolt: there are so many absolutely terrible subjects. At the moment, there is particularly this idea, which we also see a lot with the Cannes festival, that art should not be political, that we would not be there to say what we think, when it is absolutely the opposite.
We also talk a lot about the separation between man and artist, at the moment with the Bruel affair but with others before? Should we differentiate between the man and the artist in your opinion?
Oh no, never. In Bruel’s case, what he says in the songs comes from one person. Even if he doesn’t always write his lyrics, it’s always him who goes on stage and he plays the guitar with the same hands that attacked women. So no, we can’t forget that.
As 2027 approaches and with the rise of the far right, what role can an artist play?
I am going to express myself a lot until the elections, and try to bring the little visibility that I have to a cause that I think is just, that is to say Mélenchon.
The extreme right in power in France would be a catastrophe for absolutely everyone. And I can also say it because it affects me deeply as a woman, as an artist too. That would be absolutely terrible.
You often talk about the way we look at women’s bodies. You have also done some modeling. Is the music industry different?
Let’s say we’re still a product, but I feel less like a simple hanger than when I was modeling. But it’s true that we already feel it in the fact that we can often be told not to give our opinion, that we’re not there for that, that we’re there to be on stage and sing pretty songs. We also feel that, all around, it’s been a long time since we talked about songs and that we talk more about projects than anything else.
It’s an industry that reminds us that we’re here to make money. And the game will be to find how to keep your place, your convictions and your visual and musical identities in all of that.
Since 2025, your notoriety has grown enormously. What are you trying to preserve as a priority?
My sleep already and it’s not the easiest thing! (laughs) And then I also try to keep my first ideas, and not be too influenced by all the outside ideas either.
You will be at the When I Think of Fernande festival, in Sète, in the Brassens spirit. What relationship do you have with French lyric songs and who are your favorite artists?
I listen to a lot of them. There is also Brassens in the lot, but also Barbara, Aznavour, Anne Sylvestre in particular. It comes a little from my parents and my grandparents, but it obviously guided me a lot and it inspires me every day, particularly Anne Sylvestre. Among the most contemporary, there is Stromae, Mylène Farmer and Pomme.
