CThat day, Jérémy Frérot is in his Arcachon restaurant, “Gamin des sables”, in Moulleau, facing Cap Ferret and the beach. The weather is nice, almost hot. Sitting at a table, during the interview, he fiddles with his tattooed fingers with a signet ring on which is engraved “Dolce vita”. That evening, he gives a private concert at Pestacle, his other restaurant, in La Teste, for the release of his third album which is called, well, “Gamin des sables”.
When was this third album written?
For the last two years. I stopped in the whirlwind of my second album, “Meilleure vie”. I needed to rest and recharge my batteries on the Arcachon basin, where I live, among my family, my children, my friends.
How do you work?
I’ve had the same team for fifteen years. Afterwards, we don’t all sit around a table to make a song! I have a subject, I think about it and when I feel like I’ve reached the end, I start. But things most often happen with people. I like to be surrounded. It’s a collective art.
So who is with you on “Gamin des sables”?
Romain Joutard and Julien Grenier are still my musicians on stage and my producers. I start and very quickly, Laurent Lamarca accompanies me throughout. I love discussing and creating with him. He helps me channel and go as far as possible. We did quite a few songs in his studio, in La Rochelle. There are other authors, my friend Tibz, Vincha with “Zéro”, a magnificent text, the rapper Georgio “Ne m’attends pas”, and then Christophe Maé (“Toute la nuit”). And there are two duets, with Claudio Cappéo (“C’est comme ça”) and Kemmler (“Le goût du risque”).
What color is this album?
It’s not smooth, it has relief and a fairly dense universe I think. I found a unity by mixing the sound of my two previous albums, sound layers like in “Matriochka” and something more instrumental and rhythmic like in “Meilleure vie”. In “Gamin des sables”, the acoustic also comes back. There are fewer flourishes, fewer things, the voice is more highlighted.
There is a lot of talk about time…
Yes, the time that passes… I observe a lot. My songs are summaries of what I live. During these two years, I felt a lot of nostalgia. I have two children, I age faster! But seeing them on the beaches where I myself went at their age created a nostalgia that feels good.
The song “Gamin des sables” talks about this feeling, right?
Yes. She talks about the Arcachon basin, the way of living there, the emotions it provides. The Basin is very poetic, never the same with the tides, the weather.
Does it resonate with “The Sirens’ Song”?
But “le chant des sirènes” is a rather sad song. Because with Flo (Florian Delavega with whom he formed the Fréro Delavega, Editor’s note), we no longer lived on the Bassin! We were in Paris and we were both homesick! The nostalgia of “Gamin des plages” is happy, because I live there!
Fatherhood also haunts the album…
It sets the rhythm of my life today. I sing what moves me and what represents me. There is always a lot of me. For the first time in this album, I wrote a song about other people, “Tell Him”, the story of a man whose wife leaves him because they can’t have children.
Isn’t it also dangerous to talk about yourself, like in “Adieu” which talks about your life apart from Laure Manaudou?
It’s the price of fame! I can’t help it… But I’m very modest. I only show what I want to show. You might think all this is very intrusive, but no, there’s nothing specific. This song is about me, about us, but especially about a separated family. It’s very common, almost universal. I make popular music, to speak to everyone. And sometimes, we succeed. A very intimate song can resonate with many people.
Jérémy Frérot in Moulleau: “The Arcachon basin is essential to me. As soon as I leave, there is always a moment when I miss it.”
D. P.
Is there politics in this album?
Of course, yes. I talk about what I think about life, about living together, about the notion of sharing. Nothing direct, in fact. It’s my way of being political. I question myself a lot. In “Zéro”, all the sentences start with “est-ce que”. You have to find your place. What am I doing here? There are seven billion chairs, but where is yours? We all have several chairs, several ways of being. Ecology touches me a lot. I am part of the Enfoirés: my grandmother has been a volunteer for 25 years at the Restos du cœur in La Teste.
