“French by blood, but American in her heart”, we are joined by Divine&Acajou, a project with deep foundations in the movement of women’s empowerment. She joins us to talk all about her single release, ‘Viens’.
The musical journey of Divine&Acajou began at the tender young age of five, through learning the violin. From there her passion for music grew as she became a professional singer within a choir.
With a meaningful and intentional name: ‘Divine’, meaning strong and ‘Acajou’, meaning always connected to her centre, this songstress dives deep within herself to compose a style of emotive music that possesses the qualities of power and sensuality, and a call for the listener to feel and sense along with the tracks.
Inspired by French artists such as Berger, Sanson, Balavoine and Rita Mitsouko, as well as American and English artists such as Simon & Garfunkel, The Beatles, Eurythmics and Bronski Beat, Divine&Acajou diversifies her music with a combination of genre influences, including pop, slam, hip-hop, indie and classical music.
Divine&Acajou’s latest single, ‘Viens’ focuses on the themes of desire, waiting, frustration and hope, and touches on the importance of being true to who you are, without settling for anything less.
The track combines captivating rhythms and beats that will have your feet moving and your head bopping, with French and English vocal melodies that draw you into the world of Divine&Acajou. There is so much building energy in this song that will leave you feeling uplifted and empowered.
You can listen to ‘Viens’ below:
Would you like to start by telling us a little about yourself?
I am a French artist, passionate about lots of things among which music, art (dancing, painting, sculpting, movies and theater).
I also love foreign languages, history, nature and sports, and competition in general.
When I do something, I really like to do it right and I get very intense when I want to achieve my goals!
Also, among other things, animal rights are very important to me.
Finally, I’m an advocate for gender equality and for better education for everyone (kids and adults), among which sex education.
I’m convinced that it will lead to better understanding and respecting each other’s rights and limits.
I also think that everyone should be free to be whomever they want to be, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation.
What was it that first inspired you to begin a career in music?
I fell into music as a kid as a singer and a violinist, then I stopped singing seriously for nearly ten years.
I lacked confidence and I was certain I was bad at it!
Nobody was encouraging me to continue and I was very shy when it came to sharing my art, so I focused my attention on something else, but I couldn’t stay away forever!
I got back to music thanks to my brother who built a studio in my family home and gave me opportunities to sing, encouraging me down that path.
How would you describe the feel of your music?
My music is very intense and heartfelt.
I convey what comes to me and composing has helped me deal with many unpleasant and complicated emotions.
You have recently released your single, ‘Viens’, what was the inspiration behind the creation of this Single?
This single has been inspired by many different feelings: the impatience to see the loved one get back, the frustration to see time passing by and nothing happening and the attempt to assert oneself as a strong independent confident woman!
It’s a roller coaster, and the next songs will be like that too.
Get ready!
What does ‘Viens’ mean to you?
It’s a love letter, written in CAPS!
It wasn’t easy to release this song because it is so personal and it made me feel very vulnerable.
But I don’t know how to do music any other way so I just had to deal with it.
What did the creative process look like for ‘Viens’?
The creative process was very easy and quick at the beginning.
In August 2021, it only took a few hours to get the instrumental together and the chorus came easily to me (in my sleep!).
After that, the song stayed as such for a year or so but something was missing and Arnaud Hergès (my arranger) and I couldn’t quite get our heads around it.
It’s only in October 2021 that I decided to add the French spoken verses, giving even more information and intensity to the song!
Where do you find your inspiration for your music?
Inspiration finds me and it does at very random time and places.
I’d better be ready to record when it comes by.
I actually dreamed the main lyrics of my song : “Viens, j’ai pas toute la nuit, j’ai pas toute la vie”!
I woke up and it was 3 a.m. but decided to record them right away!
Often when I write, it’s like I’m purging myself from all these emotions, often powerful and painful ones.
How has Covid-19 impacted your release?
I don’t think it has.
Covid-19 has been hard on me for some other reasons, but music-wise, it has been a blessing, giving me new opportunities to create and redefine my way of living.
I feel very lucky and I have really embraced every opportunity I got.
What would you like to see happen for you in your music from here?
I would like to continue to release the songs I wrote and record new ones.
I would love to collaborate with talented artists and to perform onstage!
But first things first, I’ll be releasing the video clip for “Viens” in February 2022, and my second single “The Edge of my mind” will be released in March 2022.
I’m very excited to share this new song soon!
What is one message you would like to share with your fans?
I would like to advise them to just try and do what makes you really happy.
Worst case scenario, it doesn’t work and nothing happens, but know that everyone suffers setbacks in life, and people who didn’t support your choices didn’t deserve to be in the picture anyway.
Go for it!
There will never be a better time to do it than now.
Where can people find your music?
They can find my music on this website : https://linktr.ee/divineetacajou, which will direct them to Spotify, Deezer, Amazon, Apple Music, Youtube, Tidal, Napster, Soundcloud, Bandcamp and many more.
Karen Harding is a Melbourne, Australia based singer/songwriter, founder of Sounds On The Couch, and founder and operator of boutique music PR service for emerging and independent artists, Rise Indie.