I met Charlotte OC few weeks in Paris before releasing her first record Careless People on Harvest Records. She hits the internet in 2013 but it’s late in 2016 that she got my attention with her haunting and excellent single Darkest Hour. Pretty much like every pop star, she got involved with music very early. After a shitty record deal with Columbia and some small jobs, she realised rapidly what she wanted to do and how she will deal with this industry!
“When I was younger, I just wanted to try, like every common girl of my age, some life experiences. I’ve made all those techno parties in Berlin for example. Honestly, those parties they make you become stronger !”
The Berghain is kinda behind her now as it’s when discovering Falling by Alicia Keys that Charlotte clearly understood how a woman needs to be in this music industry. “For me, she represents the feminine elegance… without any tits or sexual messages, she’s just her and that’s wonderful !”
When I told her if she’s a feminist, she laughed at me telling me that no, she’s just a singer who wants to defend her music and to make sure that being a woman doesn’t mean being inferior to man. This first album Careless People is very personal and her main influences when creating this project were Leonard Cohen or Talking Heads. She just wanted to share some memories about previous relationships and dedicate this LP to her family. “Yes, I’m really close to my family, sometimes it’s hard not to see them but it’s always nice to catch them when getting back home”.
When listening to it, I realised that it’s more about a diary of a girl becoming a woman than a simple record. Visually, she clearly understands how it works for an artist now, when you watch her videos, you understand that she has complete control over her art!
Charlotte OC is releasing Careless People on March 31st.
By Ivica Mamedy
