Léonie Pernet has settled in part in Marseille, “for romantic reasons”, she whispers, adding that, although she was born in the North of France, she thinks “it’s an anomaly”. “I am made for the South”, she insists. Trained at the Reims Conservatoire in percussion, pianist and also an activist in the electronic scene, Léonie Pernet is a multi-talented artist, author, interpreter, and composer who, in her latest album Poèmes pulvérisés, synthesizes her inspirations.
A journey to Niger in the footsteps of her father and a collection of poetry by René Char – which inspired the album’s name – are at the origin of this record, which was built in echo of the world’s chaos. “It is not a carefree album. It is a worried and concerned album, but one that continues to hope,” she confirms. “If I can be a very angry, very down person, those are not the emotions I want to evoke in my music.”
An album of reconciliation
Her calm voice proclaims her shattered poems, fragments of a world imploding and identities to rebuild, while the electronic beat keeps hope alive. “It’s not deliberate but it’s true that…”
