Zaho de Sagazan | The rise of a sensitive

A new sensation in French song who bridges the gap between Barbara and Kraftwerk, Zaho de Sagazan has experienced a meteoric rise in one year. The one who won four trophies at the most recent Victoire de la Musique will be in concert Friday and Saturday in Montreal and Quebec. Meeting with an artist who has turned her sensitivity into a strength.

This is already the second time since the release of his first album in March 2023 that Zaho de Sagazan has come to sing in Montreal. She was part of the Francos program last summer, and not only will she perform this Friday in a packed Club Soda, but she will return in June to the MTelus, again as part of the Francos.

“From the beginning I told my manager that I wanted to come to Quebec,” the singer-songwriter, who landed in Montreal on Monday, told us Thursday morning.

“I took the opportunity to see one of my best friends again, I visited, walked, did lots of things,” she says. I have always been attracted to your country, your energy, your kindness which is felt despite the ocean that separates us. I was invited to the Francos last year and it was so good, I said to myself: I have to come back quickly! »

At 24, the singer with a deeply stirring voice went from almost unknown to the new hope of French song. It was, among other things, carried by the magnificent title song of his album, The symphony of lightningwhich is close to 20 million plays on Spotify, and whose clip released in October has been seen nearly 4 million times.

One of the four Victoires she received – out of five nominations – was for Song of the Year. “To be sensitive is to be alive, and you can never be too alive! », declared in her moving acceptance speech the artist who long believed that her extreme sensitivity was a fault… until she understood that it was her main quality. This is also the subject of this song which starts from her, but which visibly reached the hearts of many “little storms”, as she says, and who thanks to her felt less alone.

“It is this sensitivity that makes us kind, compassionate, and many wonderful things. We must be proud of it. This is the message I wanted to send. »

In this period of divisions of all kinds, talking about love and empathy can seem heresy, agrees the one who believes that crying in front of a film is rather “a good sign” which demonstrates compassion.

Being kind should be the biggest fashion in the world. But our times are very complicated for the highly sensitive. There, it’s every man for his own apple! We’re all humans, there are others who experience terrible things, and you, that doesn’t bother you? What hell.

Zaho de Sagazan

The power of words

With his lyricism, his texts which speak of love and which touch on the essential, the connection between Zaho de Sagazan and Barbara is obvious. And she takes full responsibility for it. “She is an artist that I listened to a lot and I took a lot of inspiration from her. »

It was by listening to Barbara, but also Brel and Souchon and all the great French repertoire that the young Zaho understood that the emotions transmitted by a song could be universal and that she discovered the power of words. “I had difficulty expressing myself. It was really horrible to be misunderstood,” says the songwriter, who realized, once seated at the piano, that she could take the time to find the right sentences and the answers to her questions.

The musician then went there in stages: after the power of words, she discovered that of the voice, then of melody, then that of electronic music. “And then I said to myself ah: if you put the four together…” Kraftwerk therefore arrived after Barbara, but electronic music is an integral part of his music and his concerts are “a mixture of all that”.

There are two steps. First of letting the storm cry, and then of dancing under the storm. We go from the piano-voice of Tell me that You Love Meto Berlin techno electro music at full blast for dancing like crazy.

Zaho de Sagazan

Zaho de Sagazan herself has a background in dance, and lets off steam during her concerts as much as the audience. Whether in large arenas like the Zéniths, where she has just started a tour, or small venues like Club Soda. “Yes and it’s great to do everything at once. It’s not the same thing, it’s another strength, and I love the exercise of both. »

Dream

Things went very quickly for Zaho de Sagazan, and she still can’t believe it. “I would never have put my hand in the fire that it would happen like this. On the other hand, I dreamed quite big, or even bigger! I don’t put any limits on myself in the dream, I received 50 Grammys in my shower… I’m so grateful that it worked out so quickly. »

Extract The sleepersZaho de Sagazan

Zaho de Sagazan was only 21 when she wrote the incredible Symphony of Lightning. “But it was pretty old in the album process, I wrote The sleepers around 17 years old! » Everything is only just beginning for the young woman who learned the freedom of creation from her sculptor father – she even founded her own label to ensure her independence, and her professional entourage is made up mainly of her best friends from Nantes, where she still lives – and the importance of work.

“Brel said that art is sweat. I saw my father spending his time in his workshop, and I understood that to write better songs… I had to keep making them. » And his mother in all this? “My mom, she helped me with a thousand other things. Barbara’s passion for words comes from her. She was a teacher, and it was she who passed on to me her love for humanity, which is essential for writing songs. We are still very complex, humans. It’s wonderful to write about this. »

This Friday’s show at Club Soda is sold out.
Zaho de Sagazan will be back on June 22 at MTelus as part of the Francos.

Consult the Francos page on the Zaho de Sagazan show

WHO IS ZAHO DE SAGAZAN?

• The French singer-songwriter from Saint-Nazaire, France, began releasing covers of well-known songs on Instagram in 2016.
• In 2023, she was 23 years old when she released her first album, The symphony of lightningwhich quickly propelled her among the rising stars of French song and led her to give more than 100 concerts that year.
• In February 2024, she received four awards out of five nominations at the Victoire de la Musique.