Nouvelle chanson

»Review«

“Nouvelle chanson or SAGAZA-H/N-O”—A young woman has not only revitalized the French chanson in France, but has also made it musically “socially acceptable” for modern youth outside the French-speaking world. The combination of classical chanson with electronic soundscapes, Zaho de Sagazan’s voice, habitus, and charisma immediately caught my attention—even “blew me away,” as they say today. In the 1980s, I already had a “French phase” musically with avant-garde pop à la Les Rita Mitsouko and the rock-pop duo Niagara, but Zaho de Sagazan puts them all in the shade (for me, anyway)… Reason enough for me to take a closer look at the French language again and reason enough to include Zaho de Sagazan in my collection of works. The overall picture is formed from a pose of the singer cut out of a concert video and a section of the album cover of “La symphonie des éclairs” (comic-like) inserted in the bottom left section of the picture. These two objects were embedded in an originally completely purple background, and the introduction of an “artificial” light source focusing on the singer darkens the overall scene, with the exception of Zaho de Sagazan in the cone of light, to create a stage performance.

Alongside Annie Lennox and Dolores O’Riordan, Zaho de Sagazan is the third and youngest member of my “AFFM” (absolute favorite female musicians) group to whom this short series is dedicated.