Another Belgian artist, Stromae, evoked this year his past cracks in “L’enfer”, one of the titles of his latest album “Multitude”. But the two courses have nothing to do with each other. He saw the ground slip away from under his feet after a big burnout caused by his previous tour which had wrung him out.
Depression is in Selah Sue an old traveling companion with whom he had to learn to live since his adolescence. His latest album “Persona” – the social mask in psychology – is an important step in this process.
“The therapeutic making-of of this album is interesting, it allowed me to embrace the different parts of me in each song, it heals on many levels”, explains the Fleming to AFP, passing through Paris. Before performing there for two evenings this week at La Cigale (after passing through Poland, the Czech Republic and before the Netherlands).
“Taming the different sides of you is a constant struggle, no, I would say it’s a road”, she continues, not depressed during the interview. “It’s sometimes hard to find peace with my depressive side, or my critical self, the one who says I’m a loser, but you learn to choose who is going to be behind the wheel of the bus, the confident personality for example, not the which is critical.
Each of these facets of itself inspires a title of “Persona”. The disc released in the spring is in no way tearful. And you have to expect cheerful concerts from the one who wears on stage a bright yellow outfit or a boxer-style bathrobe, marbled like a tiger’s coat.
– “I have to be honest” –
We will hear soul and hip-hop accents, since the track “Wanted you to know” is sung on disc with the Belgian-Congolese rapper Damso and “Hurray” with Benjamin Epps, a Gabonese living in France. Not a novelty with her, since we heard her on old songs alongside French rappers (Nekfeu) or American (Childish Gambino) for example.
In “Karma”, one of his recent songs, we hear a Prince-like intonation in the chorus: nothing surprising there either since the artist performed at the start of his career as the opening act for the Minneapolis Kid.
One of the most exciting titles is paradoxically “Pills”, “pills” in English (the language in which she sings), in reference to antidepressants. A remedy that the thirty-year-old thought she could do without. Before informing her fans on her social networks that she had to rely on this chemical crutch again.
“I have to be honest with this story, and when I said on Instagram that I had to take antidepressants again, there were over 16,000 people who supported me.” “Some even told me that they were going through the same thing: you still want to be unique and special, but not in depression, and knowing that others are in the same boat has been soothing,” she smiles.
The tour that is ending has been life-saving because “being able to connect with your audience and share your emotions is gold”.
What will happen when the tour stops? No dizziness, because it is projected on a new album. Will we have to wait seven years for this new record, like between “Reason” and “Persona”?
“No, I took a break last time because I had two children, now I don’t want any more (laughs), the next album won’t wait that long, one or two years maximum”.
