Who is Zaho de Sagazan, the music scene’s new prodigy?
A triumph at the Trianon in Paris last night, a hoarse voice, a delicate pen, a dreamlike universe, Zaho de Sagazan stands out as the new prodigy of French music
She has just released her first album “La Symphonie des éclairs” which has all the ingredients to soften the rockiest hearts. Last night at the Trianon, the artist delivered a powerful, sincere and moving performance worthy of great artists as he performed each of his songs. At 23, she makes us a promise that we hope to see grow and never fade.
An angel fallen from heaven
First the name: Zaho de Sagazan, looks like a character name from a novel. Unleashed, lethargic and lonely, the 23-year-old artist has been making headlines for some time. Born in Saint-Nazaire to a visual artist father and a teacher, Zaho de Sagazan is a child who cries a lot. In this city at the Loire estuary, between sea and concrete, this little girl with golden hair dances 7 hours a week until the 3rd grade, where boredom awaits her. Then she begins to play the piano, her voice spontaneously following the notes, naturally of the world. It is thanks to her passion for piano and singing that the artist was able to tap into the sensibilities that plagued her so much as a child.
Piano and vocals are a revelation. She never stopped practicing until it became a discipline for this undisciplined girl. She begins on stage with “Salad Concerts” at Aristide Briand High School in Saint Nazaire, where she already shows a striking naturalness. After graduating from high school, she began studying management, then her big heart convinced her to work in an ephad.
I had a very good life, but I couldn’t stop crying. My only confidence was the music.
Zaho of Sagazan, at western france .
A meteoric rise
With Zaho sharing tunes, song snippets and even essays on Instagram, it doesn’t take long for her to be discovered. In September, the Nantes group Mansfield Well offers him to play the first part of their concert in October at the Trianon in Paris. The singer, who has never made a real scene, accepts immediately. Three days later she finds herself in the first part of the concert on the Olympia stageherve (Music Revelation of the Year 2021).
She stopped being a carer the day she signed Warner Chappell , and received money just for indulging in his passion. She will sign later Pristine Records and now has its own label. Tom Geffray only works with his friends and is his talented drummer, while Pierre Cheguillaume and Alexis Delong (from the group Inüit) arrange his compositions. Finally, in March, she had reached the state of grace: the first part of Stromae. Artist she adores, the latter unfortunately recently canceled all his concerts for health reasons…
A tender violence
Zaho de Sagazan’s songs tell a lot about love and its torments, which are sometimes not that uninteresting. It is this sadness that she uses to write this moving music. Here’s everything: turning mud into gold. She is a stage presence, charismatic, a voice in her head, magnetic, oscillating between tenderness and violence. On stage, it’s the piano part that stands out as evidence of his style. But over time she explores other rhythmic universes: electro, 1980s pop, cold wave or Berlin techno, which she combines with her lively and languid voice.
Very inspired by Stromae, like him, she doesn’t hesitate to mix tones, sounds and genres to enrich her music. Between sweet slows and muscular shows, Zaho just screams his lack of love, each chorus plunges us into a bubble and sounds like an ever deeper truth. His music finally focuses on the essentials again. Close to Barbara, Brel or even Edith Piaf in terms of melody, presence and themes, we hope that his overwhelming success and notoriety will never prevent him from exploring and realizing the full richness of his talent and destiny as a great artist.
