Christine and the Queens Daily Livestreams
Johnny James, Managing Editor
Despite the pandemic, leftfield pop icon Christine and the Queens finds herself as busy as ever. As well as working on the follow-up to her 2018 album Chris, the Parisian star is maintaining a schedule of daily livestreams on Instagram, featuring performances from her home as well as talks with collaborators and fans.
Just before the pandemic took hold of Europe, Héloïse Letissier AKA Christine released a new EP called La vita nuova. Written while touring her joyous second album Chris, this EP opens up wounds caused by the disconnect between what Letissier was performing every night and what she was feeling. Where Chris swaggers, La vita nuova ruminates – a conscious effort by Letissier to lift the lid on her interior world in order to let the light back in.
In the EP’s opener, ‘People, I’ve been sad’, Letissier lays her vulnerabilities bare atop yearnful pop-funk production. It’s brimming with the kind of poetry and infectious pop hooks that powered Chris, but the emotions are rawer and more direct, matched by a slower tempo and grittier production. Other highlights include ‘I disappear in your arms’, which channels an early 90’s Janet Jackson and ‘Mountains (we met)’, a bruised, piano-led ballad that offers another emotional sucker punch.
In her live-streams, Christine has been giving home-recorded performances of tunes from La vita nuova, her two albums, plus her favourite songs by other artists. Stick with the video above, and you’ll see that even on a screen, she’s totally captivating to watch. You never really know what you’re going to get each night at 10pm, but it’s well worth tuning in to find out.
