- Meilleur vie , Jérémy Frerot’s second solo album, released on Friday.
- “The subjects of the songs were inspired by what happened in 2019. I am a big sponge. Every time I see or feel something, I transmit it to music ”, explains the artist to 20 Minutes.
- This new opus is very different from its previous one, Matriochka , released in 2018. “With Matryoshka , I had failed to show who I really was. The music was cold and melancholy. In life, you would have met me, you would never have thought that I could be sunny and warm. I got closer to my personality. “
The first question lacked originality. Or tactful. “I love it, it starts all the time the same”, slipped into a smile mixed with annoyance Jeremy Frerot after being asked if his second album, Better life , which comes out on Friday, was that of “letting go”. In our defense, the expression was taken from the argument sent to the press and it is not necessarily missing the point. The artist, who has just celebrated his 31 years , however, prefers the term “fulfillment”. In both cases, there is this idea of breaking away from part of the past, of gaining serenity. Jérémy Frerot, him, turned the page of the duo Fréro Delavega, which separated into 2017
. He also distanced himself from Matriochka , the first solo album he released in the wake. The title of his new opus announces the color: the singer is living his “best life” and he assumes it without false modesty.
You designed this album during the first lockdown. This had an influence on the creation process?
I made a force of all that happened this year 2020. The moment of the first confinement was already planned to be a time of creation. Finding yourself at home, locked up , it was good to write, to be inspired. I was close to my family all the time, which I would never have been able to do in normal times when I would have had to go see people to work. There, we did everything in Skype, in Zoom, it was weird but effective.
“Better life” is very different from “Matriochka”, it is more dancing, more sunny… Is it a reaction to this year of health crisis?
No, I think that was what I was already destined to do. It’s more the fact of hanging out more with people like Julien Grenier or Romain Joutard, the two directors of the album, that made me want to make this music. I like Jacob Collier, Mac Miller, Jamiroquai… I said to myself “why not make music that I like”, in the sense of “the music I listen to”. My first album didn’t really match the style I was listening to. The subjects, on the other hand, were directed by what happened in 2019. I am a big sponge. Every time I see or feel something, I transmit it to music. I have never had the need to see people so much as I was locked in my house. I’m talking about that, about friends, about my family, about love, about my own refuge…
Throughout the album, there is a kind of red thread on the fact of appreciating the simple things of everyday life. You wanted to share this wisdom?
I wanted to show that I feel much better, more concerned , more in tune with what I do. The first album was a difficult time. It was after the separation of Fréro Delavega
. It was a big wound. I was sad, melancholy. I drank like a hole. But you had to go through that moment and that album for me to find myself. Being a dad twice relaxes me and allows me to put words into feelings and desires to be. I am more in agreement with myself. I came back to live at home, on the basin of 20151203 Arcachon (Gironde). All this makes me ask myself, that I want to be much more sunny, serene and to share it.
What is your perception of “Matryoshka”. Is it a record that you like?
When I left Fréro Delavega, I told myself that ‘I had to become someone, an artist in my own right, to make myself respected on my own, to tell people that I didn’t need to be in a group. I needed some sort of validation. That’s why I went deep into something poetic, racking my brains writing songs with a dictionary, to find the best turn of phrase. Suddenly, I was clearly forgetting how I felt. The music went with this style of speaking, the poetry goes with quite cold and theatrical music. Today, since I am more composed, that I feel much more artistic and that I no longer need to try to prove something, I know that I have my place. I focus a lot more on how I feel and express my feelings in simple words, which allows me to go deeper in describing how I feel and more easily reach people.
Have you suffered from impostor syndrome?
Yes, there was this fraud syndrome because Flo Delavega was somewhere the leader of the group. When I found myself on my own, I realized that there was still work to be done in order for me to be recognized. Matryoshka was explaining that, that I was drifting, to understand what was happening.
When you read your past interviews, there is something that comes up often: the fact of finding your place, of feel like you belong …
I have completely found my place. I am a singer and I have a particular voice which must be present in the French variety. I feel that I have something and I am proud to say it whereas before it was impossible for me to express myself like that. Today I have a little that arrogance. My entourage helps me to be like that. I feel good with them. They trusted me from the start, it tells me that they see that I have something and that together we make good music.
Did your album top pre-orders on iTune? Does that reassure you or do you fear that it does not meet the expectations of the public?
I can’t wait let him come out. I know it’s going to go well, that it will affect people, that it will please. We start to see it with A man . He will react, because I am sincere and in agreement with what I am. With Matryoshka , I had failed to show who I really was. The music was cold and melancholy. In life, you would have met me, you would never have thought that I could be sunny and warm. I got closer to my personality.
The cover of “Matryoshka” was cold, a little graphic. That of “Better Life” is much simpler. Looks like a snapshot, you’re in a boathouse, you don’t really strike a pose…
This photo was not intended for the cover of Best Life . I had prepared a staging meant to reflect the album. It involved a lot of people. I wanted people to be around me to represent who I was and, in fact, it was no use. I needed something simpler. I realized that this one was much more representative, I had a posture, a frame that was going really well. It’s almost a stolen photo. I was so proud of the music, I’ve never made an album as successful as this one, and I didn’t want to mess up the cover and ruin it.
Let The Plague begin again
One of Jérémy Frerot’s new songs is called Le Pestacle . This is the name of the wine bar that the artist opened in Arcachon, before the first confinement, and which is suffering the consequences of the health crisis. “I’m not that optimistic, even if I try. It’s complicated not to know what’s going to happen. There is a lot of misunderstanding. Being on a crowded train with people standing because there is not enough room is no more dangerous than sitting at a table in a restaurant, ”says the singer. And to add: “We realize how much if our restaurateurs are no longer there, we are totally depressed. This gastronomy is the spearhead of France. “
What is your perception of “Matryoshka”. Is it a record that you like?
When I left Fréro Delavega, I told myself that ‘I had to become someone, an artist in my own right, to make myself respected on my own, to tell people that I didn’t need to be in a group. I needed some sort of validation. That’s why I went deep into something poetic, racking my brains writing songs with a dictionary, to find the best turn of phrase. Suddenly, I was clearly forgetting how I felt. The music went with this style of speaking, the poetry goes with quite cold and theatrical music. Today, since I am more composed, that I feel much more artistic and that I no longer need to try to prove something, I know that I have my place. I focus a lot more on how I feel and express my feelings in simple words, which allows me to go deeper in describing how I feel and more easily reach people.
Have you suffered from impostor syndrome?
Yes, there was this fraud syndrome because Flo Delavega was somewhere the leader of the group. When I found myself on my own, I realized that there was still work to be done in order for me to be recognized. Matryoshka was explaining that, that I was drifting, to understand what was happening.
When you read your past interviews, there is something that comes up often: the fact of finding your place, of feel like you belong …
I have completely found my place. I am a singer and I have a particular voice which must be present in the French variety. I feel that I have something and I am proud to say it whereas before it was impossible for me to express myself like that. Today I have a little that arrogance. My entourage helps me to be like that. I feel good with them. They trusted me from the start, it tells me that they see that I have something and that together we make good music.
Did your album top pre-orders on iTune? Does that reassure you or do you fear that it does not meet the expectations of the public?
I can’t wait let him come out. I know it’s going to go well, that it will affect people, that it will please. We start to see it with A man . He will react, because I am sincere and in agreement with what I am. With Matryoshka , I had failed to show who I really was. The music was cold and melancholy. In life, you would have met me, you would never have thought that I could be sunny and warm. I got closer to my personality.
The cover of “Matryoshka” was cold, a little graphic. That of “Better Life” is much simpler. Looks like a snapshot, you’re in a boathouse, you don’t really strike a pose…
This photo was not intended for the cover of Best Life . I had prepared a staging meant to reflect the album. It involved a lot of people. I wanted people to be around me to represent who I was and, in fact, it was no use. I needed something simpler. I realized that this one was much more representative, I had a posture, a frame that was going really well. It’s almost a stolen photo. I was so proud of the music, I’ve never made an album as successful as this one, and I didn’t want to mess up the cover and ruin it.
Let The Plague begin again
One of Jérémy Frerot’s new songs is called Le Pestacle . This is the name of the wine bar that the artist opened in Arcachon, before the first confinement, and which is suffering the consequences of the health crisis. “I’m not that optimistic, even if I try. It’s complicated not to know what’s going to happen. There is a lot of misunderstanding. Being on a crowded train with people standing because there is not enough room is no more dangerous than sitting at a table in a restaurant, ”says the singer. And to add: “We realize how much if our restaurateurs are no longer there, we are totally depressed. This gastronomy is the spearhead of France. “
Let The Plague begin again
One of Jérémy Frerot’s new songs is called Le Pestacle . This is the name of the wine bar that the artist opened in Arcachon, before the first confinement, and which is suffering the consequences of the health crisis. “I’m not that optimistic, even if I try. It’s complicated not to know what’s going to happen. There is a lot of misunderstanding. Being on a crowded train with people standing because there is not enough room is no more dangerous than sitting at a table in a restaurant, ”says the singer. And to add: “We realize how much if our restaurateurs are no longer there, we are totally depressed. This gastronomy is the spearhead of France. “