Sing as if your heart begs you. This is perhaps the essence of Zélie‘s latest album, « The heart and its dictatorships “. In a quiet room during our exchange, Zélie speaks calmly, laughs often and thinks a lot. At 24, the Lille singer is on the rise: A sold-out Olympia next December, a new album… But behind the image of luminous pop, there is above all an artist who thinks of her project as a very intimate, almost political space, where writing remains the compass. To define her music: “I like to say that I make music with texts,” she confides. “That’s the most important thing to me. »
For Zélie, music is a place where all parts of her seem to find their place to express themselves. A place where we learn above all to listen to each other. “It’s energizing pop and above all intimate, because it’s a very personal project. »
A voice to express: from dance to music
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At the start, there is dancing. For a long time Zélie thought that this was where her art would play out. “In final year, I left dance school quite suddenly. And suddenly, I found myself with all my afternoons free.” Time becomes a testing ground. She composes at home, on GarageBand, without a specific plan. “In a few weeks, it became the thing I wanted to do when I grew up. »
An instinctive, almost obvious shift: “I wrote two, three songs a week. I couldn’t take it anymore.” His parents don’t really slow down. And Zélie has no doubt: “I never said to myself ‘they don’t believe in me’. I just said to myself: they will see later.” Music then becomes the first, completely personal choice. Today, this transition is reflected in his album. In his texts, but also in his way of inhabiting the stage. And in her teenage dreams, the stage already had a special place. “I closed my eyes and imagined there was a room in front of me. »
At the time, it was not yet the Olympia, or a large venue… “I dreamed of doing the Boule Noire,” explains the singer. In the meantime, a replay filmed almost by chance speeds things up. On TikTok, she sings “Goodbye my love” without any particular intention. “I posted it just to feed the algorithm… and within twenty-four hours, it became the song that people discovered me with. »
Make your music, with your own rules
For her second album, Zélie changes framework and way of working. She left her label and created her own with her manager. “The difference is that there are zero concessions. The boss is me. »
A choice that goes beyond strategy. It’s a way of working, of creating in tune with oneself: “I never suffered while making this album. I didn’t go home crying because I felt like I hadn’t been listened to.” Independence also allows him to break out of boxes. “I allowed myself not to put myself in a box. I like French songs, electro, piano-vocals… I like too many things to choose,” explains the singer.
Result: a more eclectic, more worked, freer album. But Zélie remains lucid about her journey. “The label was a school. Today I understand everything that is happening around me. »
Songs as an intimate manifesto
A committed singer? Yes. But above all she writes to understand what she is experiencing, who she is. His songs touch on heavy subjects: sexual violence, bodies, family relationships. In “Ce corps”, she addresses an attack and its consequences: “I think I have never written such a precise and painful text”. Direct writing, sometimes difficult to listen to, but necessary: “It’s a very painful song, but also very liberating. »
His commitment also comes from his daily life. “In my family, I’m the girl who brings out feminism in every way,” she jokes. But also from those around him: “I have a trans brother, and that has obviously shaped my way of seeing things. »
“The heart and its dictatorships”
The title of the album comes even before the album itself. A sentence, written in a moment of personal change. “I was in a period where I was making important decisions, dictated by my heart. Especially leaving someone,” testifies the singer. From this experience emerges a formula: “The heart and its dictatorship… it gave meaning to everything I was experiencing. »
A sentence that quickly becomes obvious: “I knew my second album would be called that, even though it didn’t exist yet.” In this album, Zélie explores this idea of irreversible decisions, often irrational, but necessary.
A title which reminds us that ultimately, “it’s the heart that decides”. And this common thread runs through the entire album: “I would like people to understand that “listen to your heart” is not an empty phrase. It really makes sense.” And especially for those who doubt: “When we feel that there is a problem, it is because there is a problem. »
On stage and against everyone
If everything begins in private, everything ends on stage. His second album was designed for live performances. “We conceptualized everything with the stage in mind.” Dance finds a central place there. “There, I really have a dancer’s set. »
A space of freedom, but also of protection: “Dancing allows me to stay in my bubble”. The concert then becomes a multiple space, where “there are very intimate moments… and others where I am completely elsewhere,” explains the singer. Basically, everything converges towards a simple idea: listening to yourself… “It’s an album of self-acceptance,” she concludes.