Emilie Simon, Melanie Pain

Emilie Simon swaps France for NYC and a new life in The Big Machine. By Andrew P Street

How has living in New York affected your writing? 'Chinatown' paints a somewhat lonely picture. Living in New York was a new experience for me. It was the first time I left my country to live somewhere else for a long period. I initially went there on vacation, the longer I stayed the more I was inspired. I like the energy of this city and that's where I seeded the direction for this album who's completely related to this energy. It's maybe a solo process because of my decision of going there alone with all its consequences, but it's not a lonely album. It's an open album full of curiosity and energy.

The Big Machine seems to be a more focussed, less diverse album than its predecessors. Was there any difference in its creation compared with your earlier albums?
I changed the way of making an album. In the past, the computer was at the beginning of the process, which explain why the electronic details were so important. Also, I would not perform the songs on stage prior finishing the album. For The Big Machine, I did it the other way. I had a residency in a small club in NYC and every week I would add a song, which I felt, was ready. This gave a lot to the album and made it different from the others. I wanted the album to be the transcription of the impression I had of New York, with both a black and white musical feel to it: urban, heavy on bass and drums and with explosions of colour and light from the synths.

What were the biggest changes for you personally?
The biggest change was that I was alone away from my country out of my comfort zone, which pushed me to do things differently. I wanted to see what I was capable of without my usual comforts around me. This leads to a different approach toward creation. Here the melodies are at the centre. I wanted to have a specific sound where the songs would be linked to each other. Before I would see the songs, like little different planets who didn't have to be link together except for the concept, my voice and electronics.

Do you still see yourself as a "French artist"?
I am French. I really love my country, my language and my culture. I keep singing in French even if it's not the case for The Big Machine but I am more an artist than a French artist. People who come to my show don't really mind if I sing in French or English or another language, they come for the show, the music, the production. If I could speak another language, like Japanese I would surely sing it too . My music is not really link to my language. I'm really into sounds which doesn't have to be exclusively about French culture.

Is there a French-language version of the album for your home market or was The Big Machine entirely conceived as an English-language album?
There isn't a French version. I don't write an album to fit a market. I wrote The Big Machine in English because that how I felt writing my melodies being in NYC, meeting with people, going out, speaking English every day. It inspired me and push me to discover more of this language.

You're doing this tour with Melanie Pain: at the risk of assuming that all French singers know each other, are you familiar with her work? Any chance of something collaborative during the tour?
I know Melanie because we play together on the same stage in 2007. I was sharing the bill with Nouvelle Vague. I enjoyed the time we spent together on the road, it was really nice. We haven't seen each other since then but I look forward to it. There is no plan of collaboration but we never know.