Weekend French Playlist #13: The Jain Edition

After a 5-year break, the singer returned this year with her third album, "The Fool."

I first heard about Jain because while the singer-songwriter is a global nomad, she was born in Toulouse where we were living when she released her first album in 2015, “Zanaka.”

That disc included the massive hit, “Makeba,” which propelled her into the international spotlight (performed on the Colbert Show, sang at Coachella, was featured in a Levi’s commercial, and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Music Video.)

While she only lived in Toulouse for the first few years of her life, the city will always claim her as one of its own and celebrate her continued success.

Jain (né Jeanne Louise Galice) has a French father and a mother who is half French and half Malagasy (Madagascar). Because her father worked for a French oil company, his job took the family to Dubai when she was 9, then the Congo, and then Abu Dhabi. She finally landed back in Paris to study art, but her years in Africa and the Middle East left a deep imprint on her music.

Her rise was so meteoric that after her second album in 2018, she felt overwhelmed and decided to hit the pause button.

This year Jain made her return after 5 years and released her third album, “The Fool”, also the name of the first single, and launched a tour. Of that break, she said in an interview:

“Necessary and inevitable, that’s for sure! When you spend five years on stage, you give a lot even if you also receive a lot. And I felt that I could no longer give as much. It's extremely frustrating for an artist not to be able to give of herself completely! I realized that it was time for me to take a break, to take a little bit, not to give. And then to listen to music, to return to concerts, to recharge the batteries... Rediscover the love of music that I had originally.”

If you’re new to Jain, here’s a playlist to get you started:

As a bonus, check out this video about Jain produced by French Crossroads reader Scott Peterson for the Recording Academy feature “It Goes To 11”:

But Jain wasn't attracted to this guitar because it was a top-of-the-line instrument. In fact, it was the opposite: "It wasn't the best guitar in the shop because it was a bit sketchy." she recalls. Despite being broken upon purchase, Jain couldn't turn it away because the chords matched perfectly with her voice. "I fell in love with it," she adds.

Chris O’Brien

Le Pecq