Christine and the Queens, newly named Redcar, pose alongside Rodin’s sculpture, the age of brass (1877). Sotheby’s / Micha Patault
Redcar invents a new identity and a treasure hunt that leads to the discovery of his album, entitled Redcar the adorable starswhich is slated for release on November 11.
“My existential victory goes through aesthetics. The color and arrangement of forms, the flowers arranged with measure, the path of light on the bandaged muscles, the work of the material”. These are the first words that the singer and composer Christine and the Queens (Héloïse Letissier, real name), 34, shares about her new album (released on November 11, on the Because label). We know little or nothing about this mysterious opus, except that it is mixed by the immense Mike Dean (who has worked with Kanye West, Beyoncé, Drake, Lana del Rey and The Weeknd, among others). And especially this first piece that she presents as a foretaste. More than a song accompanied by a clip, it’s a small work that stands on its own and announces new balances.
Meeting between Rodin and a sailor
Title The Knight’s Songit depicts the meeting in a port, at night, between a sailor and a famous statue by Rodin, named The Age of Brass. Previously kept at the Musée d’Orsay, sculpted in an alloy of copper and tin, the latter represents the body of a young man. The sensuality of this life-size male nude (nicknamed The Waking Man) caused a scandal in 1877. Nearly a century and a half later, it is astonishing, even gratifying to see him in a dance alongside an artist who was at the origin of a revolution in morals and mentalities in the French musical landscape. From its beginnings, in 2011, Christine and the Queens presented itself by shaking up the codes of aesthetics: tall as three apples, lost in her suit and tie, she landed alone on stage, with her voice, her texts and her strange melodies with which she filled the room using the sounds of a computer.
In video, the clip of “La Chanson du chevalier” by Christine and the Queens
Fascinating and disturbing
Both fascinating and disturbing, Christine and the Queens was disconcerting with its references to the genre and its imagery made up of drag queens and characters à la Martin Eden. The dance, staging, video and allusions to contemporary art have always accompanied his work and his profoundly multidisciplinary language. With the world at her feet, in 2018 Christine and the Queens quit the derbies she was sliding on while singing her interplanetary hit St. Claude and allowed herself to change her name, scenic universe and character, releasing a funk album and calling herself Chris.
New name: Redcar
“The danger of success, she told us, is to be erected into a statue, to no longer dare to take a step for fear of challenging this feeling of belonging that part of the public may experience, wishing that you never change…still, definitely defined.” Today she returns free, conceptual and reveals her new artist name: “Christine and the Queens presents Redcar”. And asks that it be accompanied by the qualifying pronouns “He/Him”.
treasure hunt
Like the Situationists, an artistic movement that the artist loves, Redcar invents a treasure hunt that leads to the discovery of his album, entitled Redcar the adorable stars, and a new identity. The first step is The Knight’s Song, a very enticing title with a pointillist atmosphere, where the singer places his voice, ironically very feminine, on choruses of white voices, in counterpoint to metallic percussion and electro layers. His artistic approach captivated the auction house Sotheby’s which celebrates, from October 19, modern and contemporary art as part of the Paris + event. On the occasion of their “Modernities” sale, of which Redcar is the guest of honour, the artist “created an unprecedented dialogue, in music, with the monumental and powerful sculpture of Rodin” (1). The singer will present the new songs of Redcar the adorable stars live, in a show, a kind of rock opera, at the Cirque d’Hiver, on November 9 and 10, before the release of the disc. Driven by “the desire to jump into the waves”, as the artist writes on his Instagram account, Héloïse, Christine, Chris, Redcar reveals itself once again with its mixture of softness, roughness and an awkwardness full of grace, à la Bip, his hero Marcel Marceau.
(1) The show will also be presented at the Royal Festival Hall in London, before a world tour.
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