Epidemics, rising hatred, latent homophobia, school bullying… Hyphen Hyphen has lived in recent years like all French men and women, heckled between successive crises and confined to the ICP studios in Brussels. With That’s lifeits third album, the group wants to “dance on its sorrows” and offers a resilient look at the world around it.
Since the release of the titles LikeBoys and mama sorry in their previous album HH, the trio identify as openly queer. An image now claimed by its members. “We didn’t want to hide anymore, we needed to say it. For me, it did me good to assume myself, ”says Line, the bassist, to 20 minutes. “In the world we live in, it is unfortunately still political to be queer. We assert ourselves because it allows us to feel strong and proud together. As long as necessary, we will be committed”, promises Santa, whose raspy voice transcends the songs of this new opus. With Adam, on the guitar, they form a resolutely pop trio, proud and committed.
With these twelve new titles, Hyphen Hyphen continues the process of metamorphosis of these friends who met in high school. Everyone has the right to take their place in a space that they want to be “safe” where everyone can be whoever they want to be. An ambition that will prevail during a tour that the three artists announce as “crazy”.
Way out of “decadence”
It was on the evening of June 14, 2019 that the adventure That’s life is initiated. Fresh out of their concert at the Zenith in Paris, the trio is surprised by Glen Ballard in the boxes. The producer and composer is in Paris to work on the soundtrack of The Eddy for Netflix. He attended the concert. Rewarded by six Grammy Awards, the musician has worked with Michaël Jackson, Katy Perry or even No Doubt. “He invited us to the apartment he occupied in Paris the next day and that’s where he was born. don’t wait for me Line rewinds.
The collaboration continued throughout the design of this new album. “It was super fluid, super simple,” recalls Adam, the guitarist. But the design of the disc did not escape feverishness, first with the Covid pandemic and its multiple confinements. Then with the presidential election, which was a platform for “wicked fascists”, believes Line without naming a candidate. “There is a kind of decadence in this world and if we don’t offer a way out of all that as artists, we can be very morose,” adds Santa.
For this reason, the first version of this third album, “ultra-depressing”, was not retained. The three friends returned to the studio, removed half of the songs from this version and wrote five new ones to tip the whole thing on the positive side. “This is where the name That’s life happened,” says Line.
“Pushing luck on the right side”
The trio says they were among the excluded from college and then from high school. Marginal, the three friends now claim to have transformed their suffering into an almost indestructible force that unites them even stronger on stage. They evoke years of “pretending” without ever getting out of the discomfort. Until they meet.
“The misunderstanding of the people around us created a lot of rage in us. This is today what has made our strength and our desire for revenge. We want to push luck so that this time it falls on the right side, ”smiles Santa. From now on, they assume to be “different together”. “We are freer because we are no longer afraid! »
No more question of retaining their musical or more superficial desires, Hyphen Hyphen plays with fantasies to assert themselves and have fun. The most notable transition is that of Adam. The guitarist wears high heels and nail polish. “I want to show who I am, and today it goes through all these clothes that I didn’t necessarily dare to put on stage before. Very short, very bare stuff that I’ve always really liked, ”he admits. The only visible remnant of the group’s beginnings, the black lines drawn on the faces of its members, have remained intact.
“We seek each other for a lifetime”
Witnessing a very contemporary violence, the members of Hyphen Hyphen say they receive hate messages because of their political positioning, although they feel that their trio is relatively spared when discussing it with other artists. Another reason to be radical. “Speech is freed, so our identity issues have become an angle in their own right. We can talk about it freely,” says Santa.
She is proud to see more and more artists emerging who dare to challenge heteronormativity. “We are all different, but I am happy that the expression is made. “Multiple images that allow young people a diversity of role models to identify with, which Santa, Adam and Line would have lacked during their high school years.
Are they at the end of their search for themselves? “We are looking for a lifetime”, slice Line. Suffice to say that Hyphen Hyphen has not finished having other surprises in store for us.