Despite the whirlwind that has swept her away since spring 2023, Zaho de Sagazan has continued to write songs and will now release an extended version of her first album “La Symphonie des Éclairs”. She will perform this version in front of an audience at X-TRA on March 13.
The extended version contains seven intimate and previously unreleased songs charged with an undeniable electro energy. Attentive listeners had already caught the very tragic “Dernier des voyages” during her shows, but of “L'Envol” and its existential impulse, the tenderness after a break-up in “Est-ce que tu vas bien? ”, the artistic confession of faith on “Ô traver”, the explicit sensuality of “Hab Sex” or even “Parler l'amour” and finally “Old Friend”, which she wrote and recorded with the very person who awakened the desire and urgency in her to make music ... Tom Odell.
After another busy year in 2024, the French artist seemed to have little time to write. With 116 sold-out shows in 2023, her first Zénith arenas in Paris and Nantes and a flood of summer festivals, in addition to two other historic moments that will remain forever in our memories: her cover versions of “Sous le ciel de Paris”, a great classic by Edith Piaf, Yves Montand and Juliette Gréco, during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, and of Bowie's “Modern Love”, which moved the Cannes Film Festival jury president, Greta Gerwig, to tears. Her unique voice, which transcended boundaries, moved the masses and aroused passions. She effortlessly swept through sold-out shows in Canada, London, Berlin, Cologne, Amsterdam, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. But the Saint-Nazaire-born artist had even more remarkable successes to show. She was the first artist to win four French music awards in a single evening - Album of the Year, Best Original Song, Best Newcomer, Best Live Newcomer Act. Few emerging artists have been recognized for their contribution to the arts with the prestigious “Ordre des arts et des lettres” or won both the jury and audience awards at the Music Moves Europe Awards, created by the European Union.
The release of La Symphonie des Éclairs on March 31, 2023 confirmed the rapidly growing hype following their first shows and awards - emerging talent at the Printemps de Bourges Festival, an artist residency at the Francofolies de la Rochelle, the Chorus des Hauts-de- Seine Prize, the TransMusicales de Rennes ... an enthusiasm that was shared by experts and audiences alike and quickly backed up by figures. Gold certification followed on Christmas Day, then platinum certification on the anniversary of its release. Today, early fans tell their younger siblings in Zaholatry how they felt when they first encountered her remarkable voice. If it were a type of material, it would be a metallic velvet; the texture both springy and rough; the movement somewhere between a silky smooth breeze and the undulation caused by the sliding of stones... While Zaho de Sagazan's voice has a particular character, it soon feels familiar before becoming powerfully intimate: That of a sister, a best friend, a shaman, a therapist?
The young artist spreads her wings with a repertoire that sits at the unlikely crossroads of Barbara, alternative electro artist Koudlam, Christophe and Cold Cave music, where introspective French chanson meets the rightful heirs of Kraftwerk. Her voice pierces the emotions and tears apart the peacefully seductive girl-song blueprint. It was also this voice that made her uncomfortable in her childhood: “It made me insecure because many things about me were the opposite of feminine and I couldn't hide my voice.”
But Zaho harnessed her voice, as well as her music, by working tirelessly on it and finding great joy in it. In the beginning, she combined her piano lessons with the chocolate doughnuts she received as a reward for her classical training, which she began in sixth grade. Although she eventually tired of playing, she rediscovered her love for it a few years later. Her obsessive and self-taught passion is reflected in her current writing, in which she weaves steady melodies and repeats the same two chords to the point of hypnosis.
As a teenager, she developed a passion for classic French chanson and admired Maurice Fanon and Barbara's wordplay in “L'Écharpe” and “Du bout des lèvres” respectively, songs that touch on the most intimate truths of emotion. She also passionately explored the kind of dark electronics that penetrate deep into the soul and throb through the body with great force. At the age of thirteen, she discovered through Tom Odell how a song can drown you in sorrow, only to comfort you in an instant - “Pleurer dans ta voix” (Editor's note: Crying in your voice) she now sings with Tom in “Old Friend”. It took her a while to admit to herself that her calling was to be an artist. Tempted for a while to work in healthcare, she eventually channeled that good spirit to move closer to her current work as a singer - “I'm the friend you call when you want to talk for three hours.” But an almost natural law took precedence: her family is anything but ordinary, as her father used to travel a lot with his spectacular artistic performances. Of his five daughters, three are active in the world of art.
Everything came together at once: Zaho, always a big dreamer, grew up under her mother's guidance to empathize with others, which was both a beneficial virtue and a wonderful way to hone her powers of observation. Whether her songs are written from the perspective of the “I”, the “you” or the “he”, the theme never changes: a person who loves, suffers, hesitates, looks at herself in the mirror and tries to explore herself further ...
Throughout the album, Zaho de Sagazan alternates between melancholy and ecstasy, highs and sobering lows, desire and sublimation, as she delves into couple relationships, romantic fantasies, daring self-portraits, unsettling dreams and meditation, or simply invites you to follow her into her liberated and passionate world. Zaho is truly a unique and distinctive artist, one of the timeless voices of today. Zaho is now recognized as a timeless voice of today. Within a year and a half, her uniqueness has cemented her status as a phenomenon in the storied French chanson scene, as evidenced by her numerous professional accolades as well as the tremendous enthusiasm of her fans.
Just before Christmas, fans were treated to a radiant EP full of cover versions - including M's La Bonne Étoile, Brigitte Fontaine's La vie est belle and 99 Luftballons by Nena. Today, Zaho de Sagazan returns with a generously expanded version of La Symphonie des Éclairs, with a great selection of exclusive songs that will be remembered for a long time to come.