“Singing poets makes you happy”
You have released an album that pays homage to the great classical poets. What a contrast with a current music scene saturated with glitter like during the last Eurovision contest!
Anne Coste: Nowadays, music is often drowned out by a lot of artifice. For some, a musical show is synonymous with a flood of sounds, lights, flashy decorations, flames and this undoubtedly pleases some music lovers. For our part, we have voluntarily opted for sobriety in our approach to the stage.
Jacinthe Madelin: In our world saturated with noise and information in all directions, this project of poems carried by deep melodies invites people to pay attention to the texts written by the greatest pens of our literature. We wanted it to offer a moment of breathing and do some good.
Thirteen texts by deceased poets make up this album. Isn't that a risky bet?
Hyacinth: Vintage is back in fashion. There is therefore no reason why poetry should not come back to the forefront! (Laughs) That said, in 2017, we had already put to music Tomorrow, at down , by Victor Hugo, which was a real success with our fans. We therefore wanted to renew this approach, nevertheless aware that our approach seems to go against the grain of the current era. But it is important to us to make people happy. But poetry is an invitation to live one's interiority, allowing everyone, in this era saturated by overconsumption and excess communications, to connect with oneself. The poems we have chosen were written a long time ago by authors who had the genius to put words to their ills and to convey emotions, their relationship to love, to nature, to humanity, etc. This is why they speak to us to this day. Their texts remain current.
Anna: A poem is short and easy to read. This can be a real starting point for discovering literature. It is claimed everywhere that young people do not read enough. These poems that we offer in song allow us to transmit to children, adolescents or adults the love of books and writing which has helped us both to build ourselves, to understand the world, to feel less alone. If our album can give just one person a taste for reading, our bet will have already been won!
In your clip “Liberty” (text by Paul Éluard, first single from the album, Editor's note), you sing in a class with students.
Hyacinth: This text written during the Occupation has become a symbol of resistance. Today in France, we are theoretically free, but the reality in schools and colleges is not so simple. With harassment, the gaze of others, are the students so free? Through the power of Paul Éluard's words and the slightly flamenco tempo that we have given to this title, the middle school students who participated in this clip and those who watch it will be aware that freedom is a precious good, that we must fight to conserve.
Anna: Today, the lack of freedom is expressed by the lack of peaceful debates in the public sphere, the fear of being friends with people who think differently or who dress differently.
What does the influence of Taylor Swift, the new queen of American pop, inspire you, whose positions it is said could influence the presidential election in the United States?
Anna: Music can serve causes and convey beautiful values. But it remains one of the rare places that has the power to bring people together and unite. This is why it must be situated outside of politics which always carries aggression.
Hyacinth: We find it unfortunate that politics has become a subject of confrontation. In our opinion, music and song must unite, soothe and not invite themselves into the political field.
The Music Festival, celebrated this week, promotes calm by maintaining a spirit of proximity…
Hyacinth: It is precisely at such times that people meet. And exchanges are what we miss the most at the moment. We did our first public performance ten years ago during the Fête de la Musique in Angers.
Anna: Yes, during such an event, music comes to people, accessible and free. There is room for all styles.
You are therefore celebrating ten years of your career. With your experience, what is your view on French song?
Hyacinth: There is a great variety. And thanks to or because of telecrochets or the Internet, new artists can burst onto the scene, then suddenly disappear, due to the counter-effect of the buzz. What sometimes raises questions is when songs without any meaning, without any lyrics, accumulate millions of views on social networks. My reaction is not dictated by jealousy, I simply wonder about this phenomenon which emanates from the current consumption of music. We skip, we no longer listen to an entire album, we no longer take the time to savor the melodies and lyrics.
Anna: In ten years, we have become closer to artists like Vianney or Claudio Capéo, who keep French variety afloat, with real patient and regular creative work.
How and when did you meet?
Anna: Living in the west of Paris, we took the same commuter train to go to college. We saw each other almost every day without speaking. One day, we were 11 and 12 years old, Jacinthe approached me and asked me to become her BFF (Best Friend For Ever, best friend for life, Editor's note) . I immediately accepted. We learned to play guitar together via the Internet, before we started making music.
Hyacinth (pinking slightly): Yes, I was direct and for twenty years we have been like sisters…
Hence your stage name, “Les Frangines”!
Hyacinth: This name makes all the more sense as we subsequently discovered an indirect family link. We are almost cousins by marriage.
How so ?
Anna: My father's brother's wife's sister-in-law is his father's cousin… Something like that.
Does this bond explain the longevity of your friendship?
Hyacinth: Our friendship was already strong long before we discovered this distant relationship. For me, the success of a friendship, a couple or a professional relationship lies in communication. Agree to question yourself and listen. And have a common goal. The two of us are quite connected artistically.
Anna: Rather, we have the same sensitivity and the choice of poems for our album, for example, posed no particular difficulty for us. The important thing is not to merge, to stay in our place and complement each other. We are also well surrounded by strong families and our friends. This avoids taking yourself seriously and becoming pretentious.
And does having faith help?
Anna: Clearly, Christian values inspire who we are and the way in which we live our friendship and lead our careers far from the ambient “bling-bling”.
In 2021, two years after the Notre-Dame fire, you released a song to pay tribute to the Paris cathedral. What justified such a commitment?
Hyacinth: The solidarity of the whole world towards the French at the time of this catastrophe brought balm to our hearts. Our goal was to show that a disaster can offer the opportunity for a new beginning. We wrote this song to accompany the reconstruction process that was underway.
The inauguration of the cathedral will take place in December. Is this a message of hope for you?
Anna: Downright ! Moreover, since you represent Pilgrim , we would like to go through you to sing at Notre-Dame on the day of the reopening. It's one of our wildest dreams.
My arm isn't long enough! But I hope the ceremony organizers read this interview and invite you to the festivities.
Anne and Jacinta (in chorus, half-hilarious, half-serious) That would be wonderful !