After a remarkable debut and the first parts of Eddy de Pretto, the UFO of the French scene Claude lands on Friday with a first album “In extremis” enveloped in techno, constantly on the edge between “tension” and questions.
For a 26-year-old artist, who emerged during the confinements linked to the Covid-19 pandemic, titling a first opus “In extremis”, on the verge of death in the etymological sense, establishes the character.
“I found that it summed up well the atmosphere of the album which is often in tension, which is not in resolution” even in its “musical structures”, reveals Claude to AFP, glasses with thick and thin lenses mustache.
With a pensive look or a worrying pose, he plays on this versatile image but unblinkingly unrolls songs with sensitive lyrics, about the first emotions (“Baisodrome”) or existential wanderings (“Micro-ondes”, “La presse”). Thirteen titles with their own identity appear, including an instrumental (“La nausea”).
– Banana bread –
Do you think you can label it as an original? The native of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, west of Paris, has a master’s degree from a major business school, certainly made to be “easy” because he is not passionate about these studies.
Can you imagine that he has been scratching texts since childhood? Yet another failure: he built his discography on YouTube and claims to have gaps in French song.
It was only in 2020 that he dared to start writing. “I had never really written songs, never really composed. So there, I say to myself + why not? + There are many people who make banana bread. I’m going to try that,” he says, with its machine gun flow.
After a few self-produced pieces under another pseudonym, he transformed into Claude – a first name “both outdated” and “a little strange and therefore a little modern” -, found his current label Microqlima, found support, released new songs and takes the elevator of success, floor by floor.
He was noticed by several artists, including Eddy de Pretto, who validated this cadet’s artistic similarities and offered him his first parts.
Eternally dissatisfied at the conservatory where he learned the guitar – “not a very good musician”, he criticizes himself – Claude methodically writes on his phone which he draws as soon as he captures “a nice word” .
“Then, I have an alarm clock (an alarm, Editor’s note), and from 12:30 a.m. to approximately 1:00 a.m., I write”, like an “obligation, it gives me exercises every day”, confides this former student “quite turbulent” and hyperactive.
– Range of machines –
These two adjectives also stick to his record, produced with the composer and arranger Alexis Delong, without necessarily trying to “check the French song card”.
The atmosphere is resolutely electro, even techno, with a serious penchant for acid, a derivative of house born in the 80s and still in use at rave parties.
To achieve this, the two friends used a range of electronic instruments: three-digit drum machines – 606, 808, 909 -, the large Pulsar 23 which delivers drum sounds and is embedded in ” all the pieces”, without forgetting the Moog Opus reproducing the organ, “something very sacred” for a rendering that is “relatively dark, a little cynical, but at the same time very classy”, lists Claude in particular.
In the end, “what’s in the album is frankness at all levels”, believes the artist, who nevertheless admits to having “a hard time getting satisfaction from things”.
But he is taking more and more of a liking to the stage, with a group to accompany him. “A joyful thing” like “kayaking,” he smiles, in a comparison that sums up the phenomenon well.
