She’s wildewoman #1: la vita nuova
A new life born from a fever dream
By Allison Parssi
Christine and the Queens is an artist who finds balance from blurring lines - her performance is masculine and feminine; her music is aggressive and her lyrics are vulnerable; she is a pop star who highly appreciates the concept of her art. This balance is perfectly embodied in her recent surprise release, La vita nuova that dropped this past February. The powerful five (plus bonus) song EP and accompanying short film serve as the grand entrance to what seems to be her next artistic chapter.
Translating to “A New Life,” the title and narrative arc throughout the EP, is originally borrowed from the Italian text by Dante Alighieri. Alighieri’s La Vita Nuova was originally published in 1294 and tells the story of his love for Beatrice Portinari that came to a halt because of her sudden death. Written over the course of ten years, La Vita Nuova combines poetry and prose in a way that allowed Dante to redefine how he and others wrote about courtly love. He described it as a more spiritual, almost sacred experience, that brought him overwhelming joy along with intense sorrow.
In Christine and the Queens’ musical rendition, the story is not dissimilar. We hear her experience these polarizing emotions resulting from a love unexpectedly evaporating and the loss of her mother. Her story stems from an overpowering grief, but grows to an empowering resilience through the six tracks.
“People, I’ve been sad” was the impetus for the project and appropriately serves as the album’s opening track. The mid-tempo ballad sets the stage as she sings, "If you disappear, then I'm disappearing too... If you fall apart, then I'm falling behind you." While unapologetically addressing her feelings of immense sadness, the track also serves as an act of self-love. Highlighted by a warm string section building behind her vocals, she speaks her truth - no longer afraid of her pain.
Soon after finishing the track, Christine was hit with an urgent need for catharsis. The result was the remainder of La vita nuova, which she wrote, recorded, and co-produced in a month and a half. The EP continues with the foreboding, driving bass of “Je disparais dans tes bras.” This track, along with the secondary recording in English “I disappear in your arms,” serve as bookends for the release. The first only acknowledges a harmful relationship while the latter resists it and demands respect. “Mountains (we met)” brings an emotional confusion to the forefront as Chris’s voice soars over minimal rhythmic production. This uncertainty is met with frustration on “Nada” as she sings, “Feelings are lost and mine are overrated/coming to dust, nothing’s here protected.”
The journey ascends to a chaotic euphoria on title track “La vita nuova” featuring pop artist Caroline Polachek (former frontwoman of Chairlift) singing in Italian and English. The two voices weave in and out during the chorus, expressing their mutual distrust for each other. The passionate defiance is what brings Chris to a new life, bringing the reference to Dante’s work full circle.
The short film partnered with La vita nuova transforms Christine and the Queens’ fever dream to a visual manifestation. It is a manic combination of cinematic film, music video, theater and dance alongside the five tracks. Directed by Colin Solal Cardo and choreographed by Ryan Heffington, here we see Chris’s art practice at its best.
Wanting to find the idyllic Paris setting, the film takes place in none other than the magnificent Palais Garnier. Every floor of the opera house was featured, allowing for the visual elements of the building to complement the emotional qualities of the music. Opening on the rooftop, Chris dances as the sun rises and sings “People, I’ve been sad” across the city. The transition into “Je disparais dans tes bras” lands in a rehearsal space where the pared-down aesthetics make choreography the focal point. Movements are aggressive; dancers gasp for air; Chris is dragged across the floor - all are choices that match the song’s tone as well as challenge the ideas of desirability and seductive beauty typically expected from a pop star. While sexuality is not ignored, it is more intimate, self-empowered, and not for the benefit of the male gaze.
The dramatic performance of “Mountains (we met)” becomes metaphysical on the auditorium stage. Dressed in a jester-like costume, Chris sings the emotionally charged song to an empty audience. Feeling foolish and lost, Chris ends the song lying on the ground only to awaken in the grand foyer in an angelic white gown for “Nada.” The visual repetition of her running down the grand staircase only emphasizes the confusion and disappointment heard in these two tracks. She leans into the campiness to close out the film with the title track. The Italo-disco inspiration is met with a nightclub scene where Polachek makes an appearance for their seductive duet.
Christine and the Queens’ La vita nuova has once again proven that she has unparalleled vision and talent. She embraces performance in the broadest sense of the word and brings heart-wrenching emotion into warped dance-pop. She is shameless when it comes to making her art and above all, she is authentic.
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Recommended if you like: Robyn, HAIM, Shura, Caroline Polachek, Empress Of
Listen to Wildewoman’s latest mix here