Interview with Angele | Have fun at Coachella, and then in Quebec

Between two performances at the legendary Coachella festival, Belgian singer Angèle spoke Journalism Her evolution, ambitions, and North American tour, which will take her to the Bell Center in Montreal on April 29-30. interview.

Angele is perfection. One of those people who find it hard to let go, and are rarely satisfied, even when they have accomplished great things. “It allowed me to move on with my life,” she tells us as we meet Zoom in for an interview. It allowed me not to be complacent, not to think small, and to always want to improve myself. I always know what I can improve. »

Perhaps it was this ambition that led her to where she is today. On tour in North America, following the release of her second album which already took her to European theatres. At the time of speaking to us, she’s in California, just days after her first performance at Coachella and a few days before her second (the event takes place over two weeks).

Upon the arrival of this historic moment in her career, Angèle was able for a rare period to let go. “It is very important to be able to do this,” she says. And it worked surprisingly well, even though the stakes were very high and the attitude that made me very vulnerable: I’m a Francophone on such a large stage, and on a fairly good schedule. [21 h]It was also filmed live. He’s pressing. But the only thing I have control over is focus and enjoyment. »

In her hotel room, pinned to the desk, big glasses on her nose, Angel looks completely calm. The friendly singer says she’s “very happy” to be able to experience this moment, which isn’t offered to everyone, even as an artist who sings in French.

In fact, one of the things that affected her most was the realization that a portion of the Coachella audience was singing her refrains in French during her performance. “They were really singing! Obviously there were people who were there because they knew me. It’s so cool. There was really everything in the audience, from the curious to the people who knew the lyrics. But everyone was on board.”

Continuous development

For the singer, who now has a fan base firmly established in the Francophonie, discovering a whole new audience is a great opportunity. “I never had the desire to conquer other regions or even, honestly, just to fill the huge halls of France. But I wanted it to succeed. I wanted to make a coherent project, music that worked, I wanted to be heard. I don’t know if I’d I really understood at the beginning what that meant. I don’t know if I want to be a big star, although now I’m very happy about it.”

But she argues that making a pop hit, and assuming it, doesn’t mean giving up artistic ambition. “I want him to have my touch, and I don’t want to have to disguise himself at all,” adds the artist. There are times when I searched for myself. Until recently. And the difficulty of the work is that we are openly looking for ourselves. Our mistakes are general, too. But we are learning and changes are visible. What I feel, in the end, is that there is still potential development, while I am vulnerable. It’s a mix between something so obvious, wanting to do things and, at the same time, not knowing exactly where it’s leading me. »

A lot has happened since its inception. The person who has just been crowned artist at the Victoires de la Musique looks back proudly on the path she has traveled, but also recalls the learning this journey has given her.

“At the beginning of my project, I had no role to play, I was a relegated new artist,” she says. “I was who I was, with my mistakes, my qualities. I still had my weaknesses, but sometimes I try to erase them to try to be perfect. I tell myself I’m If I get there, I have to make sure I always deserve it, so I don’t make mistakes. I can’t get tired, I can’t be off target, I have to be OK all the time.”

The work she does on herself is intended to make her more forgiving, to simply accept being herself. “I get there because audiences are tolerant, and in a way they’re just happy to see an artist still out there, evolving. It’s great, for example, to tell myself I’m going to be in Quebec in a few days with an audience that knows me, supports me, is happy and touched that I’m coming. And I am.” like that. ”

Dancing on tour

Angèle’s North American tour started from the beginning of April. After defending his first record for several years, he won plaudits prolthe Belgian set herself new challenges for the series of concerts for her album ninety five.

“My other tour started with a Damso opening and ended at the Bell Center in Montreal! The gap was huge. It was a very moving show, very honest, but it started in very small rooms. We added layers and people and musicians. It was consistent with the times. And this time, I also wanted that consistency With a more famous project, it has a lot of songs that make you want to dance, and songs that are full of glitter and that wanted to get us out of the COVID-19 gloom in no time.”

The months of work made it possible to stage an elaborate concert, during which the artist dances frequently, with even more fantastic theatrical effects. Two hour party! “Since the start of the tour, we’ve played it, we’ve changed it, we’ve made it better,” says Angel, true to the way she described herself at the beginning of the conversation, always looking for the best. We have a solid foundation that allows us to always improve. What I love about the stage is that you can prepare, but to learn the trade, you have to do it, you have to go. »

That’s what she’s been doing for a year with this new show she’s going to perform at the Videotron Center, and then at the Bell Center two nights in a row. Angell says: “The crowd in Montreal and Quebec, I compare it a bit with the Belgian crowd. It’s a joyful, cheerful crowd and at the same time very attentive. It’s a shame we’re so far away, because I used to come often. We have a real story.”

Angèle will attend a concert at the Videotron Center on April 27 and at the Bell Center on April 29 and 30.