Weekend French Playlist #11: Christine And The Queens Edition
The internationally acclaimed singer is back with his 4th full studio album: Paranoïa, Angels, True Love
Over the past decade, the artist born in Nantes under the name Héloïse Letissier has become one of France’s most successful cultural exports via the music project Christine And The Queens.
Mixing a cool, gender-fluid persona with dreamy synth-driven pop, Letissier gained a global following. In 2016, Vanity Fair called Letisser the most influential French person in the world just before the release of a second album and following an appearance with Elton John.
During that time, Letissier’s identity evolved from overtly female to androgynous, adopting the persona of “Chris” on a second album, which was listed as the album of the year by several music publications. Last year, upon the release of the album Redcar les Adorables Étoiles, the artist announced he now uses he/him pronouns.
In a 2022 interview, he told The New York Times:
“My journey with gender has always been tumultuous. It’s raging right now, as I’m just exploring what is beyond this. A way to express it could be switching between they and she. I kind of want to tear down that system that made us label genders in such a strict way. I remember talking about being pansexual in France in 2014 — it was a conversation that few opened up, and I was advised in, like, offices to maybe tone it down. I’m really trying to address it the right way now, and I’ve been sometimes pressured to give an answer. But I think the answer is to be flickery, fluid, escaping.”
Last month, Christine and the Queens released a fourth studio album, Paranoïa, Angels, True Love to widespread praise. The 20-track triple album is a dreamy tribute to Tony Kushner’s play, Angels in America. In a 5-star review, The Guardian called it a “grief-stricken masterpiece.”
The album includes 2 tracks with Madonna doing spoken-word lyrics. On pitching Madonna, he said to Rolling Stone:
“I told her, ‘Listen, I’m making this rock opera about angels. Your character could be my mom … or it could be a big robot … and I’m really not sure yet.'” He pulls an anxious look like when he was expecting her answer. “She was like, ‘You’re crazy. I’ll do it.'”
If you’re new to the Christine And The Queens phenomenon, here’s a playlist to get you started:
Chris O’Brien
Le Pecq