vivienne 𝜗𝜚

jesuisverlo PARIS - je retrouverai ta scène le samedi 21 mars à @lacigaleofficiel en première partie de @bertrand_belin ! J’ai hâte de donner vie à Générique et présenter mes nouveaux titres ✨

New Instagram post from Verlo!

Like ahhh just look at her

Video description: Louise Verneuil was at our microphone to talk about her debut album, LUMIERE NOIRE! Her raw, splendid vibrato sends shivers down your spine. Her haunting, organic, inspired music paints vast landscapes, and desert crossings... Expansive and cinematic, Louise Verneuil's songs take us on a journey. Somewhere between Jane Birkin and Marianne Faithfull, Patti Smith and Nico, Louise, at 30, is forging a lineage that evokes leather and silk, chic and a touch of the wild.

(Translations done by me, as accurate as I could 😭)

Q: You are currently in London where the lockdown has been extended. How are you doing during this period of isolation?

A: (0:08) I think I'm very lucky because, as I say, everything is fine, my loved ones are doing well, I have a roof over my head, I can continue to live my life. I think there are everyday heroes who deserve more praise and recognition today. I'm doing very well. Of course, it's always a bit strange and delicate when a lockdown is in place and imposes when it's not chosen for an artist or for just anyone, but especially for an artist. So you have to tame this solitude and try to make something of it. After that, I don't know, I see several people talking about how, as an artist, you experience this kind of confinement. You have people who won't think it's a good thing to draw something artistic from this event. I think that every negative thing can always be turned into something positive. That's been my philosophy for the past few years. So I'm doing well.

Q: You are one of those singers for whom everything hasn't happened too quickly. Can you tell us about the long gestation of your album «Lumière Noire»?

A: (1:18) If I can try to keep it short, because we could have a long conversation based on this, I arrived in Paris at 22 with my head full of dreams and a real desire to be happy. And what made me happy was making music and writing songs, except there's no school for it and no real established paths. So, I did this show, The Voice, Not to be a stepping stone, but to try and see if that was truly what I was missing to feel complete, to really want to be, well, as I said before, happy. And indeed, that's what happened. Through this show, I met Louie Bertiniac. I was just a performer, and I already do a lot of that. And Louie Bertiniac confirmed what I needed to do, which is to write my own songs when I had him read my lyrics. And so, through encounters, failures, sorrows, and joys, I've lived my life as a young woman, from girl to young woman. That's what the album is; it's a choice, a selection of songs that have been with me for six years and that ultimately represent this status and this path, signifying the transition into a young girl's role to a young woman's role.

Q: You have written a lot of songs over all these years. How did you choose the ten finalists for the album ?

A: (2:49) It's very, very difficult because every song I write, and have written, now I compose, but the first thing I did was write. I really had to make a selection, telling myself, "Okay, I already know what I don't want to do." So, saying no, and as I said no, I left songs behind. And there's also something about songs that age with you. Even if they're 6 or 7 years old, like "Love Corail," for example, that track from the album is one I love. I think it's a bit of a stretch; you always have to try to bring out the best in yourself and what's most like you. Actually, these songs are the ones that best represent me and the most important moments of the last six years.

Q: Each song has its own musical universe, but the whole forms a coherent ensemble. How did you succeed in this exercise?

A: (3:43) It's very difficult because, I've worked with different composers. When we arrived in the studio with Samy, gave him this demo, each one really brought it’s own style. And honestly, it was going in all directions. So we completely deconstructed the songs, we completely stripped them down, meaning we started with a guitar-vocal or piano-vocal base. And then we gradually added what Samy and I call the "lento noir" (?) system. That is to say, we put in everything we thought, everything we wanted, emotions. We were talking in colors. Since I don't know musical notes, I spoke in sensations, in feelings, in cinema, in photography. I expressed emotions by saying whatever I wanted. And gradually, the funnel narrowed completely, removing things until only the essential remained. And I think the main element that makes all songs resonate is the lyrics and the intention. There's also, of course, the voice, and the fact that he used so many strings. For me, it's something that really moves me, these instruments you hear, these strings. We were able to sing them in the studio and then have them played by a 40-piece orchestra. It was magical. I never thought I'd experience that kind of emotion one day, seeing those musicians playing what I had sung in the studio. It was a very special moment.

Q: Can you tell us about the themes you address?

A: (5:47) Truly, there are sorrows from which one almost never recovers. I haven't spoken here about the loss of my mother, but I think (?) will address all of that, in any case. But it encompasses all the emotions that anyone can experience. And I think it's also a philosophy to tell yourself that, of course, you're not perfect, but everything isn't bad either. And in every negative thing, there's something positive. Every negative thing brings something, and you bring yourself to where you need to be. I held on, it was also very difficult to keep my eye fixed on my dream. There you have it, it's long, it was long, but it feels like it was yesterday.

Q: What makes you value open spaces, traveling, and freedom so much?

A: (6:36) When I arrived in Paris, I was immediately struck by the shock of loneliness and also by the lack of space. Loneliness means that you can be surrounded by many people, yet feel very alone. And I always went up to the hill in Montmartre to try and find the only horizon I could, because it was the only place where I could project myself into the world, see, and try to assess spaces. Paris is really so much, with neighbors everywhere. So I think subconsciously I was talking about those spaces, those dreams. Of course, talking about vagabonds and wide open spaces, it could be about the United States, but it could also be about the Spanish Civil War, it could be about the vast spaces in Corsica, in the Maki region, it could be about many things. The fact is that the main element is this freedom. And physical freedom, but also mental freedom. This escape, the ability to leave and get away. I think that's also one of the main themes of the album. But not running away, maybe running away, I don't know. There are many nuances in love, many nuances in freedom too. I think it's important to talk about it, especially when you're developing as a young woman. Perhaps also to draw parallels with married life. You always feel like you're trapped when you're young. In the end, I learned that you can't be completely free and in love. So maybe that's what it's about too.

Q: You are compared to many icons (Marianne Faithfull, Françoise Hardy...). Like them, your songs seem timeless. Was this something you were looking for?

A: (8:19) Honestly, that's the best compliment anyone could give me because it was something that was still a significant weight, a real burden, because I think that as soon as you try to follow a trend, you're completely out of fashion, you're already irrelevant. And then, of course, I still have those influences from those icons we compare ourselves to today, and I'm delighted and very happy, but I'm still a woman of my time. But I think that in the life of an artist, or in everyone's life, we soak it all up, we absorb so much. I absorbed all the music from my childhood and adolescence. And so I made something of it. So, of course, it has a Christmas feel to it. I don't think I tried to make something specific to a particular time period; I tried to make something that reflects who I am, that is me, and that is my truth. It's not perfect, much to my dismay, but I think we'll never truly achieve perfection. But in any case, it can't be any more real than this. And timelessness, think about it, is also about not trying to please or create hit songs. It's about taking the time, therefore, to make mistakes and really search for something that truly reflects who you are. And it's also a very nice compliment when people compare me, when they find that what I do doesn't sound like someone from today. And that's very, very beautiful. It's very... At the same time, it scares me. I have to come across even better next time. So, yeah. But I think it doesn't have any varnish on now, that's it.

Q: Why the use of English in some of your texts? Is it natural for you or have you learned to use it over time?

A: (9:56) It's more natural now since I live between London and Paris. But back then, what's really strange is that I was already thinking, to answer your question, why not? I didn't initially try to sing in English. But I have songs that groove, and I'm working with "yaourt" (a French term for a kind of informal, non-English style of singing). I mean, "yaourt" is when you sing over compositions with something that isn't French or English—it doesn't really exist—but it grooves around the mouth. So, at a certain point, there are French words that are... How to put it, too rigid to fit into a certain style. On choruses, for example, like "Blue Sunday," I couldn't... I was trying to come up with French words, but it didn’t sound as natural and the it felt like machine writing. So I wanted to keep the English as something very spontaneous. And in the end, I think it tells a different story.

Q: What is your relationship to the stage?

Yayy, no pressure at all tho and take your time with it :). This is the link to the interview - https://youtu.be/Ao10spK1iHw?si=KChVL9F3F1EEvZa

Hoping the community only gets bigger :)

hi !

i discovered verlo in 2022 through a spotify-generated playlist labeled “french indie pop.” at the time, she was still going by louise verneuil.

i’m half french (the name vivienne isn’t random haha), and one of my parents still lives in france and primarily speaks french, so i visit every summer. i’ve always gravitated toward french music as a way to stay connected to that side of myself. there was something about lumière noire that immediately pulled me in — i ended up really loving that album.

i was never a huge fangirl or anything — i followed her on instagram and usually had a song or two of hers on my playlists. but since the release of générique, i’ve found myself listening a lot more, and i figured… why not lean into it?

i’ll add my spotify wrapped down below as well. thank you for the question !

salut ! i’m vivienne !

i plan to post some of my favorite louise (verlo) content on here, and would love to find any friends in the community !