Every day, a personality invites itself into the world of Élodie Suigo. Thursday May 9, 2024: the author, composer, performer and member of the group Tryo, Christophe Mali. His latest title, a duet with Lucie Lebrun, “Derniers humaine” is released before a new solo album which will be released at the end of 2024, “Humain”.
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Christophe Mali is an author, composer, performer and member of the group Tryo, formed in 1995 around a common passion, that of reggae. This is how the public discovered it, with the famous title that has become an anthem and cult: The anthem of our campaignstaken from the album Mamagubida, in 1998. Over time, he was able to cultivate his artistic garden according to his creations. Today, he presents himself alone, after the announcement of a break from the group, and he has just released Last humans, a reggae sound in duo with Lucie Lebrun. He is preparing an album for the end of 2024 and a tour in 2025.
franceinfo: With Last humansare you returning to your first love?
Christophe Mali: When we started with Tryo, it was very acoustic. It was three guitars, and over time, we discovered electricity, sequences. So even if there is this reggae sound, there is a slightly more pop side, a little more electrified on this last track. Perhaps that’s also why I wanted to go solo, to discover new sounds, things that we had touched on with the group over all these years. There, I can indulge in it completely.
Does being “alone” allow you to refocus?
To tell you the truth, we made a book with one of your colleagues, Bertrand Dicale, who told a little bit of the story of Tryo. And during discussion sessions with him, he told me: “Christophe, it’s weird, I look at everything you’ve written so far and you’ve never written about your family, about your childhood“. And then, it clicked in my head. I told myself that it was true, while all these artists that I love, Jacques Higelin, Alain Souchon, spoke about their family, spoke about their childhood I had never done it before, and then I started to pick up my pen and write songs.
“I said to myself: hey, what if I opened up? What if I told a little of the history of my family? It’s not self-centered because I think that the intimate side can join the universal.”
Christopher Maliat franceinfo
I started writing all these songs, and these songs, I couldn’t sing with the band. That’s how the idea came, the desire to make this album, by saying to myself: “Come on, at my age, 30 years of music behind me, I want to tell things that I don’t ‘ve never told. I also want to surprise myself. If I don’t do it now, it will be too late and I will regret it. I could have written a book, but it’s very hard to do so. write a book. I write short formats, I write songs, so that’s how the album was born.
What do you remember from this childhood?
I come from a family where things were pretty tough, actually. My parents didn’t really get along. I lived with parents from a generation where we don’t divorce for the sake of children. When I look at this, I say to myself “ah, what a waste of time, what time they could have wasted”. I don’t want to waste all that time and I want the people who listen to my music to not waste any of it either.
There has always been this desire to be independent. Within the group as for yourself, you have always wanted to maintain this independence, not to get into formatting.
Yes, I think we also come from a generation where we feared being caught up in the system. The fact of being independent was for us to be guarantors of our freedom, of freedom of expression, of the freedom to do, to say and above all to be artistically free. It is a chance. It’s not always easy because some people dream of it and it’s not possible for them. And then making records is fun, but where I’m most comfortable, and even what I write songs for, is ultimately to go out and meet people and perform on stage. .
“I haven’t been on stage since July and I miss it terribly. That moment when you arrive on stage, you say to yourself: ‘Ah, there you go, finally I’m here, it’s here!’ In fact, that’s where my life is.”
Christopher Maliat franceinfo
When is this new album coming? And does he already have a title?
It arrives at the end of 2024 and it is called: Human hence the link with the title Last humanshence the link with the family and the societal side of Tryo.
Will there be other duets, other songs that will talk about your childhood?
So there aren’t really any duets, but I wrote a song about my dad. This song takes place on the great beaches of the North that Alain Souchon sang a lot. When I wrote this song, at the end, I’m talking about my father walking on this big beach, taking stock of his life and me looking at him. And then I wrote because when I go to these northern beaches, to Berck, to Le Touquet, each time I have Souchon’s songs in mind. I sent the song to Alain. He was very touched by this song. And I said to him: Alain, I would really like you to come right at the end of the title, just finish the song. So, is this a duet? No, not really, because he doesn’t sing the whole song, but he makes an appearance at the end and I’m super proud. But I’m already starting to say too much. You’ll have to wait until the start of the school year to get the rest!
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