Brigitte Fontaine

Biography

Brigitte Fontaine (born 24 June 1939) is a French singer of avant-garde music. She has employed numerous unusual musical styles, melding rock and roll, folk, jazz, electronica, spoken word poetry, and world. She has collaborated with Stereolab, Michel Colombier, Jean-Claude Vannier, Areski Belkacem, Gotan Project, Sonic Youth, Antoine Duhamel, Grace Jones, Noir Désir, Archie Shepp, Arno, and The Art Ensemble of Chicago.
She is also a novelist, playwright, poet, and actress.

Early life

The daughter of two teachers, Brigitte Fontaine developed her taste for writing and drama very early. She spent her childhood in small villages of Finistère, then in Morlaix. At 17 years old, she moved to Paris to become an actress.
In 1971, she was one of the women who signed the Manifesto of the 343, publicly admitting to having an abortion at a time when it was illegal in France.

1963–1968

In 1963, Fontaine turned to singing and appeared in several Parisian theatres, interpreting her own works. In 1964, she opened for Barbara and George Brassens's show at the Bobino. Even so, she did not give up theatre. With Jacques Higelin and actor Rufus, she created the play Maman j'ai peur ("Mom I am afraid"), which played first at the Vieille-Grille theatre, and then at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. It met with such a critical and popular success that it stayed in Paris for more than two seasons and toured throughout Europe.
In 1965 and then in 1968, she made two albums, one jazz and one avant-pop, as well as two 45s with Jacques Higelin. In 1969, she began what would be a long collaboration with Kabyle musician Areski Belkacem. With Belkacem and in the company of Higelin, she conceived Niok, an innovative spectacle of theatre and song, for the Lucernaire theatre. Soon after, Fontaine wrote a series of works in free verse and prose which comprised the show Comme à la radio at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier before being turned into an album of the same name. Recorded with the Art Ensemble of Chicago, this album marks a clean break with traditional French songs, building the first bridges to world music.

1969–1979

Fontaine became a major figure in the French underground. In a half-dozen albums, the majority of which were released through the independent label Saravah, Fontaine explored different poetic worlds. She renounced the use of rhyme, and using talk-over sometimes, she recorded, with very little means and often on two tracks, songs which addressed topics with humour or gravity, according to the mood, as various as death ("Dommage que tu sois mort"), life ("L’été, l’été"), alienation ("Comme à la radio×Comme à la radio15 November 1969 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Comme à la radio8:052Tanka II1:563Léo0:234Le Brouillard3:255J’ai vingt‐six ans3:046L’Été, l’été3:587Encore1:288Les Petits Chevaux0:589Tanka I1:4610Lettre à monsieur le chef de gare de la Tour de Carol6:01"), madness ("Ragilia"), love ("Je t’aimerai"), social injustice ("C’est normal"), the inequality of the sexes ("Patriarcat") and racism ("Y' a du lard"). However, she also knew how to make light of herself ("L'Auberge (Révolution)").
Because they sail among pop, folk, electro and world music, the albums L'Incendie×L'Incendie1974 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracksA1Le 6 Septembre2:12A2Ragilia2:13A3Il pleut sur la gare2:24A4Déclaration de sinistre2:14A5Les Murailles2:19A6L'Engourdie2:40B1Nous avons tant parlé2:31B2Les Borgias3:15B3Les Petites Madones0:58B4L'Abeille2:20B5Après la guerre3:24B6La Tête bandée2:47B7Le Chant des chants2:09 and Vous et Nous×Vous et nous1977 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 32 tracks · 2 discsDisc 1A1Vous et nous2:00A2Patriarcat6:47A3Mon enfance1:42A4Ce n'est rien1:46A5Le Serveur du dôme0:49A6Je suis venu te voir3:10A7Rien que changer1:19A8Le ciel est doux1:45B1Les Épis2:04B2Le Repas des dromadaires3:08B3Vous et nous (orchestré)2:26B4L'Amour parfait2:45B5Un soleil2:35B6Dans ma rue4:37B7L'orage est fini1:40B8Le Sergent de ville0:11Disc 2C1Le Brin d'herbe1:10C2La Harpe jaune2:51C3Je t'aimerai3:12C4Diabolo2:18C5Cher2:26C6Ce n'est pas un ennemi2:15C7Encaustique0:55C8Petit sapin2:20D1Mon lit1:03D2Je t'aimerai2:52D3La Déchirure1:30D4Le Petit Cheval bleu0:34D5Personne1:58D6Les roses sont farouches1:26D7Le Bouc2:10D8Les Muzdus3:01 by the Areski-Fontaine duo figure among the most unclassifiable records of the French scene. Almost thirty years later, the international audience of these LPs (since re-edited for CD) is comparable to that of the cult record Histoire de Melody Nelson by Serge Gainsbourg and Jean-Claude Vannier, notably due to the enthusiastic remarks made by members of the band Sonic Youth in the English-speaking press.

1980–1990

The 1980s were a period of silence, musically speaking, for Fontaine and her partner Areski Belkacem. Far from the recording studio, she devoted herself to writing and the theatre. Always active, she appeared onstage in Quebec, she performed her play Acte 2 in a grand tour of the French-speaking world, interpreted Les Bonnes by Jean Genet in Paris, and published a novel (Paso doble) as well as a collection of short stories (Nouvelles de l’exil). In 1984, she recorded a single ("Les Filles d’aujourd’hui").
After having given a series of concerts in Tokyo and other large Japanese cities, she had to wait about five years for a French company to distribute her new album French corazon×French Corazon1990 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1French Corazon4:302La Cantatrice chauve2:223Le Nougat2:524Hollywood4:315Mauviette3:566Leila3:407Welcome Pingouin3:538Dis3:389In nomine matrice3:1510Les Carmens3:1011Plaisanterie classique2:2612Folie furieuse3:2513D'ailleurs4:07 (written and composed in 1984 but released in 1988 in Japan). Having been broadcast notably on French television, the video for the single "Le Nougat×Le Nougat1999 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1La Cantatrice chauve2:242Le Nougat2:523Hollywood4:314Mauviette3:565Leila3:406Welcome pingouin3:537Dis3:388In nomine matrice3:159Les Carmens3:1010Plaisanterie classique2:2611Folie furieuse3:2512D'ailleurs4:09", directed by comics artist Olivia Tele Clavel, prepared the public for the big return of the singer to the French stage which commenced with a concert in 1993 at the Bataclan.

1990–2001

In the 1990s, Fontaine moved closer to the musical worlds of Björk and Massive Attack by testing new, more electric musical forms and, especially, more electronic forms than before. Her lyrics mark a return to a more classical, versified form. The release of her album Genre humain×Genre humain1995 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1La Femme à barbe7:362Genre humain4:233Le Magnum3:204Conne3:445Belle abandonnée3:366Dans la cuisine3:397Comme à la radio5:508Intérieur nuit3:089Hammam en plein-air2:3310Le Train deux-mille-cent-dix2:2011Il se mèle à tout ça3:1012J'adore pas2:50, in 1995, met with great success (more so on the part of the critics than the general public) with surprising titles like "Conne" (produced by Étienne Daho), lyric titles like "La Femme à barbe" (produced by Les Valentins), and poetic ones like "Il se mêle à tout ça×Il se mêle à tout ça1996 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Il se mêle à tout ça3:052Dans la cuisine (Gilb'R Remix)4:103Dans la cuisine3:384Dans la cuisine (Instru Gilb'R Remix)4:10" (produced by Yann Cortella and Areski Belkacem).
In 1997, while she published a new novel (La Limonade bleue), she recorded Les Palaces and its landmark track "Ah que la vie est belle×Ah que la vie est belle1997 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Ah que la vie est belle3:55!". The album, very well received by the press, is enriched by the collaboration of Areski Belkacem, Jacques Higelin and Alain Bashung.

2001–present

Fontaine's albums Kékéland×Kékéland20 August 2001 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Demie Clocharde4:142Bis Baby Boum Boum5:093Pipeau2:384Y’a des Zazous2:525Kekeland3:326Je fume4:057Je t’aime encore3:098God’s Nightmare5:339Guadalquivir3:3610Les Filles d’aujourd’hui3:3711Rififi5:5912Profond4:2913NRV6:22 (2001) and Rue Saint Louis en l'Île×Rue Saint Louis en l'Île26 October 2004 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1Betty Boop en août3:152Sous 200 watts2:333Rue Saint-Louis en l'Île4:264La Veuve Clicquot3:405Fréhel3:496Le Voile à l'école2:347Mado2:488La Chanson de Simone3:239Le Nougat (feat. Mouss & Hakim)3:3310Et caetera...4:0711Éloge de l'hiver4:2412Le Grand Jamais4:0713Folie5:1514L'Homme à la moto2:12 (2004) benefited from prestigious collaborations with artists such as Noir désir (with whom she also co-wrote and recorded the 23-minute track L'Europe on des Visages des Figures), Sonic Youth, Archie Shepp, - M-, Gotan Project, Zebda, etc. In 2005, after having given a series of concerts with her usual band (but also with La Compagnie des musiques à ouïr), she published a new novel, La Bête curieuse, whose erotic ambiance somewhat foretold the tonality of her sixteenth album, Libido×Libido30 October 2006 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Château intérieur7:042La Metro2:363Cul béni2:134Elvire3:365La Nacre et le Porphyre4:056Barbe à papa3:017Mendelssohn3:368Les Babas2:419Ex paradis4:2310La Viande2:4211Mister mystère4:2412Noces3:10 (2006). This new album renewed her concerts with a lively energy and gave them a very "baroque 'n' roll" ambiance, in which Teresa of Avila, Sufis, Hollywood films, and Melody Nelson are invoked.
In October 2006, Fontaine appeared at the Barbican Centre in London along with Jarvis Cocker, Badly Drawn Boy and other English artists, for the first public interpretation of the mythic "Histoire de Melody Nelson". In January 2007, she appeared onstage with graphic novelist Blutch at the Angoulême International Comics Festival. On 29 March 2007, she invested in the Olympia music hall, supported by her friends Jacno, Arthur H, Christophe, Anaïs, Jacques Higelin, Maya Barsony and Jean-Claude Vannier. In April, she played at the Printemps de Bourges music festival and participated in her Québécois admirer Pierre Lapointe's concert for a duo of "La Symphonie pastorale". After having given a series of intimate concerts all through September on a barge anchored under the Pont des Arts on the Seine river in Paris, Fontaine toured throughout France. Between two concerts, she went into the studio with Olivia Ruiz to record a new single, "Partir ou rester×Partir ou rester2007 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Partir ou rester3:43", for which she wrote the lyrics.
In February 2008, she published a new novel, Travellings by Flammarion, while Benoît Mouchart wrote a monograph on her life and work ("Brigitte Fontaine, intérieur/extérieur"), published by Panama. A new album titled Prohibition×Prohibition5 October 2009 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Dura Lex2:542Entre guillemets2:393La Fiancée de Frankenstein4:314Prohibition3:545Il s'en passe3:436Harem3:407Pas ce soir3:038Soufi5:019Just You and Me4:0410Partir ou rester5:3411Je suis un poète3:10 and produced by Ivor Guest including collaborations with Grace Jones and Philippe Katerine was subsequently released in the fall of 2009. The lyrics of this new work mark the return of Fontaine to an anti-authority political position.
In March 2011 she released a new album, also produced by Ivor Guest. It is called L'un n'empêche pas l'autre, and consists primarily of duets, among others the dance track 'Dancefloor' with Grace Jones, which Polydor uploaded on their official site. In 2013, she released her latest album, named J'ai l'honneur d'être. The video for the first single "Crazy Horse×Crazy Horse2014 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksA1Crazy Horse3:32B1Les hommes préfèrent les hommes3:08" has been directed by Enki Bilal.