Jill Barber: vulnerability assertive

For Jill Barber, writing songs in French has been a great revelation in his career. “When I write in French, it allows me to express another part of me. It is a new voice that is more vulnerable… and a little naughty.”

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June 26, 2020

Updated on June 27, 2020 at 6: 17

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Jill Barber: vulnerability assertive

Leah Harvey

The Sun

Inspired by French pop music and the yéyé years 60, Between us, Jill Barber, his first album consisting of original songs in French, takes its listeners on the dance tunes, jazzy and sometimes raunchy. The unique voice and melodies sun-drenched singer we are finally diving into the summer.

In 2011, the singer-songwriter English had conquered his public speaking, recording Songs, his first French album on which she interpreted the songs, notably Raymond Lévesque, Edith Piaf, and Henri Salvador. It is only today, nine years later, that Jill Barber back in his francophilie with original songs, co-written with the montreal-based singer Maia Davies.

“From the beginning, I had to make an album with performances in French, and only a few original songs. But each day, Maia asked me, ‘What’s the topic today?’ and I was always of the words, the feelings that came in French. So I subsequently developed the themes with it,” says Jill Barber, who, however, allowed to record for the album its interpretation, in French, of the song Suzanne by Leonard Cohen.

For the singer, make a French album and to write songs in French has been a great revelation in his career. “When I write in French, it allows me to express another part of me. It is a new voice that is more vulnerable… and a little bit naughty”, she says while laughing.

The music ofus has its roots in the French songs of the 60’s. These tunes, very feminine, light and a little naughty attract greatly Jill Barber, who has made his way into his latest album by giving them a little modern twist. The singer wished, indeed, to be able to “express the spirit of these songs, while injecting them with the soul of the modern woman”, the “empowerment of women”, way 2020.

The cover of the album Between us

Photo courtesy

“I am a woman, a mother. I have a husband, a family. I am well established both at the level of my career and in my personal life. This album expresses where I am at in my life at this time”, she says proudly.

In a duo with Yann Perreau

Jill Barber offers to his public, in his song The summers of Montreal, a duet with the singer-songwriter Yann Perreau, recognized in recent years for its success I love the birds.

The summers of Montreal seems to be, at first sight, a story of a classic love between a man and a woman. Jill Barber indicates, however, that it was written as a love song to the city of Montreal. His feelings towards the metropolis could not be expressed otherwise than by way of a story between “anglo” and “franco”, she says.

Because she wanted this union between the two languages affects all of his fans, the singer has made a translation of his romance, in English, always in a duo with Yann Perreau. “When I sing in French, I’m vulnerable because this is not my mother tongue. So I asked Yann to sing in English in Summer Nights in Montreal. He was shy, but he found the courage to do it,” says the artist, who wished to keep this vulnerability in each of the versions is to capture the spirit of the first feelings of love, “when one feels naked in front of the other”.

If the album Between we had to go out initially at the beginning of the spring, Jill Barber has not wanted, in spite of the pandemic, further delaying the release of his new album.

The artist hopes that people who follow will use us as an escape, allowing them to travel elsewhere for some time. Jill Barber offers us to its fans “as a gift with the promise that she will visit in the show” as soon as she can.

Le Soleil