jacket. Songzio
top + shorts. Momma’s Blues
shoes. Empty Behavior
French singer-songwriter ELOI is poised to define a new agenda with her bold hybrid techno-rock-pop-punk-electro sound, following in the footsteps of artists such as Peaches, Sexy Sushi, and rockstar Courtney Love. With potent and unapologetic lyrics, ELOI roars love declarations, produces infectious electro-techno beats, and collides clashing pop sounds to create a unique musical fusion that is already creating ripples. Late last year, fans desperately scoured social media for last minute tickets to her album release party in Paris, cementing her status as one of the most promising musical talents of France.
Collaborating with queer filmmaker Alexis Langlois for the video of her latest single, Call Me, ELOI presents a pop-trash lesbian reinterpretation of a wrestling match. Listeners are plunged into the sweltering heat of a captivating sonic ring. In this sultry move, ELOI delivers a hard-hitting love declaration that does anything but play it cool. Her unfiltered, raw emotional energy resonates with fans already captivated by the meteoric rise of this young rock star.
In an exclusive interview with Schön!, the 25-year-old artist opens up about her debut album, Dernier Orage, delving into the landscape of queer music in France, exploring unconventional influences, and discussing her experiences of recording and touring as an independent artist.
You’ve just released the music video of Call Me, your latest single off your debut album. How did it go?
Everything went perfectly – Alexis [Langlois] is amazing. As he’s from a cinema background, you really feel that the level is pretty high. He has an edge that’s very pop, very queer, very trendy that really works.
Call Me was the last track I composed for my album. It felt like the missing part of the album. Anais (my girlfriend) and I have had an obsession for wrestling for a while. We’d already done a project on catch – it was a poster around that theme – and we’d really gone for it. In porn too, there’s a whole subcategory of women’s wrestling that is just mad. I sent all of this material to Alexis, and my idea of doing a wrestling match with my girlfriend. It became a really rich domain of ideas to play with. Researching it was amazing too – we did wrestling lessons, met teams… it was really fun.
Left
jacket. Songzio
Right
jacket. Gen Frey
bustier. Momma’s Blues
bomber. Etudes
tank top. EGONLAB
If you had to summarise Call Me, how would you describe it?
The synopsis basically is two wrestlers who are competing in a match, who actually fall in love with each other… on the surface, you can have this “I’m the best” boisterous vibe, while underneath you’re not at all confident. So it’s this clash between form and matter that we wanted to tease out in the video. The video is full of gags, it ends up being fairly humiliating for me [laughs]. I try as hard to demonstrate that I’m the strongest, but as it turns out I’m clearly not the one who is in charge… It ends up as a love match in the boxing ring.
It’s in a very masculine environment, two women surrounded by loads of guys – a sort of mirror held up to society. The whole video flips the idea of the male gaze. The guys around us are spurring us on to really shred each other to pieces, but in the end, they are also emotional and cry.
So it’s a big fuck you to toxic masculinity…
Yes, exactly. It was hilarious to work with these amazing stunt artists doing somersaults in front of massively pumped men. It was beautiful to watch.
So your debut album came out late 2023 – how was the release?
It was a huge relief to release it. I worked a year and a half on it so I was sick of it by the end [laughs]. There were previously two EPs that I had released pretty much straight after writing them – when I do something I really want to move on to something else. With an album like this, you really feel the milestone. The album is dense, it takes a while for people to get to know me when listening to it.
Why do you think it was intense?
There are a lot of influences in there, I talk about a lot of different things on the album. I feel like I vomited everything I had inside me, so there’s a lot of chaos, a lot of themes in there. There’s a massive contrast between the sounds, it’s pretty experimental and full of clashes. It’s a beast.
full look. Pressiat
shoes. Sankuanz
ring. MM6 Maison Margiela
left
tank top. EGONLAB
trousers. Solène Lescouet
harness. Zana Bayne
right
jacket. Gen Frey
bustier. Momma’s Blues
trousers. EGONLAB
shoes. Sankuanz
I always feel like there’s a huge generosity on first albums – it’s a foray into an artist’s world…
I dumped everything on the listener here, yeah. [laughs] But that’s what’s scary about it. I figured out what the hell I was talking about, bit by bit, it’s not a very intellectual process. I had time to digest it too. It’s about figuring out and defining my direction. I feel like Call Me really gives an idea as to where I’m going as an artist, visually.
Who did you work with on the album?
I produced a lot of it alone. I worked on 80% of the track at home – in the total seclusion of my bedroom. [laughs] Sujigashira, who is an old friend, was my sound engineer on tour and worked on a couple of tracks. We went into the studio to record decent vocal tracks. Mia, my super guitarist, composed the guitar riffs on top of that. I wrote the album in symbiosis with those two. I have my own record label, Novembre Eternel, and I have a distribution deal with Romance, who are great. It means I’m super independent in my artistic choices. I changed my team at the end of last year, and it was such a great decision, and things are really amazing now.
The live component is obviously important for you…
A lot of my tracks actually come from my experiences on stage. The guitar is super important for me and my stage persona”. I played the album live a lot before releasing it. I was more comfortable with what I was writing, in a way. I love playing live.
Who are your fans?
I love them! They are the best. They are as intense as the album [laughs]. It depends on where I play. At La Cigale in Paris, they were between 19 and the age of my parents… they’re usually super queer, a lot of women. In electronic festivals, there were more guys, but fairly punk. But overall, young, queer,… I would love to touch teenagers but I feel like they are a very picky audience. maybe I’m not right for them. I’m Rated 18+ for the time being [laughs]. We share a lot, though, and there’s this crazy connection and energy during the concerts that usually appears.
chainsaw. Margaux Remary, Alexandre Contini, Oundène Godefroy + Anne-Sophie Delseries
bracelet. Love Louder
ring. MM6 Maison Margiela
jacket. Songzio
top. Momma’s Blues
As a project that speaks about queer voices, about lesbian identity, do you find there is a space for this discourse in France?
Honestly, I feel like it’s really in the making, personally. Maybe I’m in a bubble, in Paris, in artistic spaces. But I really feel like it’s developing, the community is strong – I live in a very queer and fluid space, and it’s a vibe. My sibling Le Kaiju is also a queer artist in the electronic sphere, and it’s a space that’s multiplying … I really see and feel it. In the concerts you can really feel it – it’s not a masculine space, the women are mosh pitting so hard the guys can’t even get near the stage. It’s electric and exciting to see our people taking up space.
It makes me think of Peaches, Sexy Sushi, …
They inspire me a lot. Punk feminist artists or bands, like Riot grrrl artists, or Courtney Love, The Runaways – are all artists I love. Strong women who really forged a space in a very masculine world. The work has been going on for years. Rebeka Warrior is someone I always quote, but Sexy Sushi really changed music for me.
What comes next?
As soon as I’m back from holiday, I’m going straight into a residency to work on a project, then I’m in the studio for 2 weeks in Paris. I’ll then be rehearsing for the tour before going on the road for 3 months. Which is why I’m on holiday now…. My next break will be in August!
This Schön! editorial was produced by
photography. Gabriel Francez
creative direction + movement. Alix Taccardo
fashion. Patrick Clark
talent. ELOI
hair + make up. Jeanne Salord @ JR & Associée
accessories. Margaux Remary, Alexandre Contini, Oundène Godefroy + Anne-Sophie Delseries
production. Divergence Studio
location manager. Beatrice Dufour
photography assistant. Rebecca Dorothy
location. La Machine du Moulin Rouge
special thanks. Pauline Marc-Becam, Coralie Arnould, Melodrama Productions, Alexis Langlois + Sarah Ababsa
