“Writing a new album”, Cœur de Pirate celebrates the 15th anniversary of its first with a series of concerts

Every day, a personality invites itself into the world of Élodie Suigo. Monday April 29, 2024: Canadian author, composer, performer and pianist, Cœur de Pirate. She is celebrating the 15th anniversary of her first album with a series of concerts starting next fall.

Coeur de Pirate is this Canadian artist, author, composer, performer and pianist with a meteoric rise. It was with her first eponymous album released in 2008 that the public and the world of music discovered her with titles that have become ours: Like children, for an unfaithful, Together. Today, she celebrates 15 years since the release of this multiple award-winning album.

franceinfo: Your first album sold 700 000 copies, certified diamond disc. How have you lived these 15 years?

Pirate’s heart : I experienced them very well. I really experienced a communion with my audience. I saw them grow up. It’s extremely nice to see that there are people who listened to me when they were children with their parents and now they are young adults. And it really does something quite mainstream in my shows. It makes me happy to have this relationship with him. I’m doing this for him in a way.

The starting point is learning the piano. Are you three years old when you start?

Yes. I didn’t really have the choice to learn the piano and for that, I thank my mother who forced me to play. But it did me good.

“I had a lot of energy, perhaps I also had a little attention deficit disorder and the piano allowed me to channel this excess energy.”

Pirate’s heart

at franceinfo

Then there was the writing. What was the goal? Was it to tell what touched you, what hurt you, what prevented you, or to share moments that you had managed to capture?

At first, it was to settle scores. Quite simply, I put songs like a rapper on MySpace. Over time, it was a way for me to have an outlet. It was also a form of therapy.

To mark this anniversary date, you didn’t want to redo an album and offer something else, you went on a tour with exceptional dates. Next October, you will be on the 9th in Bordeaux, the 10th in Liège, the 12th and 13th at the Folies Bergère in Paris, and the 15th in Lyon. Was this at least necessary, ultimately, to mark this album?

Yes. The show is a unique moment that we experience in communion with the public. The stage is where I can really show myself as I am, without artifice. For me, it’s very cathartic. To be able to relive it with the songs that everyone knows, in the fall, it’s really going to be a great time to spend.

There are 15 years of this album. Do you remember where you were?

Yes. I remember. I was starting a tour in France. We drove miles and miles to go from one festival to another. And then on the radio, I heard Like children every 20 minutes, so it was sick for me. I didn’t understand what was happening, I had this feeling that it was starting to work and it wasn’t bad.

Tell us about Like children in hindsight since you created it. How was she born? And how do you see it today?

It’s the first song I wrote in French. There was such a naive side to the creative side which is magnificent that I no longer have today and that’s a shame. But at the time, I didn’t think at all while writing and I think that’s what people appreciated too. It came from what music I listened to and I made it in French. It was a bit unexpected as a song and so much the better.

And yet, French was a real choice. You wanted to present yourself this way.

Yes. In Quebec, we are still a minority. French is something we have to fight for every day.

“For me, it was culturally important to sing in French. Now, I have a lot of people who come to see me and say to me: ‘I learned French with your music’ and that, for me, is is a source of great pride.”

Pirate’s heart

at franceinfo

You weren’t even 20 years old when the album was released and you already approached life topics with enormous maturity, even relationship issues. Does that mean you have to be in pain to write better?

I sometimes want to say yes, because I’ve been quite happy for five years and it’s been complicated to write recently. But I’m getting back to it, trying to draw elsewhere. But for love songs, yes, it was complicated for a little while. Otherwise, I think you have to know how to reinvent yourself and know how to draw on other things that can mark you as an artist. And that’s what we try to do every day.

What’s next ?

The following ? I have gigs and I’m writing a new album and I’m no longer tied to any record company. So I hope that my music will reach ordinary people, that would be really good.

It is also what defines you, it is the syndrome of freedom, of independence.

Yes, I bought my label in Quebec, now I am my own boss. I’m happy. I have an independent label and that allows me to plan a bit about what I want to do next.

There was already a solid fragility in this record, you told so many things. You have consolidated this fragility, but do you, at times, allow yourself to be fragile?

Absolutely. I put myself in situations where I can also be very vulnerable in terms of writing, in terms of music, but also in my artistic choices. It’s important to do it.