Brigitte

This is all reflected in the latest release by singer-songwriters Aurélie Saada and Sylvie Hoarau. It’s a sexy mix of ’70s disco, hip hop beats and lavish strings, not to mention sensual vocals.

The pair first met in 2003 but it was five years before they collaborated on what would become Brigitte. “We had friends in common,” recalls Saada. “They introduced me to Sylvie because they thought that we could do something together. And they were right. It was like falling in love. We were really impressed by each other and we wanted to work together.”

Back then they were pursuing separate projects; Saada was performing alt-rock under the pseudonym Mayane Delem, while Hoarau fronted the Parisian rock band Vendetta. But neither guise found success, and throughout this chapter they felt like they “were totally dying”. Yet Saada refused to flounder. In fact, the setbacks only galvanised her, and she asked Hoarau to join musical forces with her.

“I really wanted to work with her,” says Saada. “I thought that maybe we could do something great together. Even if it’s not quite a success, because we are used to not having success, but just because I wanted to work with her – [even] if it was the last music project that we do in our lives.”

The two felt that if they truly wanted to succeed, they had to write, record and produce themselves. Saada recalls, “[Even] if we were not like amazing guitar heroes and very great musicians, we wanted to do everything with our four hands, and trying to do it alone with all the things that we know, with our fragility. And it was great because we built everything together … it was an amazing moment [in our lives].”

The pay-off for this leap of faith was profound. 2011 saw the release of Brigitte’s debut album, Et Vous, Tu M’aimes? [Mister, Do You Love Me?]. A collection of retro-infused indie-folk gems, it went double platinum. And the fluidity of sounds, influences and genre is palpable.

“It’s totally natural for us,” says Saada. “We wanted to be free to try to touch every style or music or influences we love. We didn’t want it to be a rock band or a feminist band. We wanted to try to be who we are. And who we are is a mix of many, many things and influences.”

Not taking themselves too seriously, Brigitte’s music also bursts with humour. This can be seen on their cover of French hip hop group Suprême NTM’s ‘Ma Benz’, which went viral, catching them by surprise. “It’s funny, because when you sing it and you’re a woman, it becomes almost like a feminist song about sexuality and desire, you know,” says Saada. “You don’t talk about sex when you’re a woman. And it’s great, I like it. Alain Bashung, the French singer, said when you do a cover, you have to not respect the song too much. You have to love it but not respect it too much. You have to make it your own.”

The idea of making music that is their own and on their own is at the very heart of Brigitte. It propelled the duo to found their music label, B. Records, as well as craft a wonderfully unique onstage look. Their matching outfits can be described as a little vintage, a bit neo-hippie and a whole lot of diva. Saada laughs, “We like sparkly dresses, like Diana Ross or Cher or Marilyn Monroe or Rita Hayworth.” This love of beautiful clothing led them in time to French designer and haute couturist, Alexis Mabille. “And he makes for us all the dresses that we dreamed to have and to wear.”

Saada explains Brigitte is ultimately “about the freedom to be all this woman – you don’t have to choose a face, that we have many faces and it is pretty important”. Their second album, cheekily titled À Bouche Que Veux-Tu [Mouth Of Plenty] came out in France a year ago. It picks up where their first left off, celebrating that “a woman can be plurielle, that you can have a lot of paradox and that a woman is complex”.

Since its release, Saada and Hoarau have spent much of the past several months experimenting with expression and sound. Yuksek and We Are I.V were asked to remix the record’s title track. And they also decided to put out a revised version of the album. “We recorded seven of our songs with a classical orchestra,” Saada says. “It was an amazing experience to do that! And we’re really happy that this new album has been released.”

Now that it has, they have been able to channel their creativity and energy into touring. “I’m so excited to come to Australia,” says Saada. “The totally opposite end of the world. We will travel 27 hours to come to Australia. And this is crazy to think the French songs that we write in my dining room about our lives and our stories bring us to Australia. This is full of emotion for us.”

[Brigitte photo by Dimitri Coste]