Elaborated four years ago in the recording studio of Baboo Music, in the heart of the Cabrel family stronghold in Astaffort (Lot-et-Garonne), the Zelie the Pirate, after many adventures, ended up docking last October. “October 30, 2020 to be precise, smiles Aurélie Cabrel today, that is to say the day when all cultural spaces in France closed their doors due to second confinement …”
Remained in the hold for some time, the first musical tale of the singer and her companion, the songwriter Esthen Dehut, is now sailing towards a nice success. Hybrid object, both book and record with songs punctuating the stories, all played and told by real actors, Zelie the Pirate narrates the adventures of a 15 year old teenager, who lives a little with her mother – ashore – and a little with her father – the captain of the ship Aramacao – and who wants to show that she can become a very solid pirate.
A preface by Francis Cabrel with “a lot of modesty”
“We had to find a theme that appealed to both boys and girls, says Aurélie Cabrel, and if piracy may at first glance seem like a male universe, it is also a world that opens up the field of possibilities with stories that can take place at sea, on land… There is a fairy-like and magical aspect, and at the same time the possibility of anchoring oneself in our daily life. ” Zelie the Pirate indeed multiplies the nods to the contemporary world.
To carry out this project, the couple called on two friends, musicians and composers, Olivier Daguerre and Bruno Garcia. Francis Cabrel also came to affix his paw. “In Astaffort, we all live a bit on top of each other, Italian style, and her contribution came naturally,” says her eldest daughter. We have two recording studios next to each other, and we regularly each pass a head to see what the other is doing. One day we were making a guitar that looked like his playing, so we asked him to record it, then he told me he loved the project and he offered to do the preface. I was really touched when I saw his text arrive by email, written with a lot of modesty. This preface is very human, it speaks of a handover between a father and his daughter. “
“I decided to turn to others. “
Previously author of two solo albums, Aurélie Cabrel reoriented her career in 2015. “I was a young mother and I was looking for a musical tale for my daughter, which I did not find in the form I hoped for,” explains -it. Hence the idea of devoting myself to writing for children. That same year, I was also very touched by the news [les attentats notamment au Bataclan], I then decided to turn to others. As with my husband we had just set up our label Baboo Music, I started taking care of other artists. Maybe one day I’ll do an album for myself, but now I feel more useful like that. “
After having “become a child again in the space of a few months” this universe “attracts her now enormously. »Aurélie Cabrel’s priority today is thus to finalize the writing of volume 2 of Zelie the Pirate. And to bring the project to the stage.