Olivia Ruiz. “I have found other ways of liberation only through modern dance, music and sex”

Star Academy kid Olivia Ruiz has shunned any attempts to make herself a established singer. On his first album, I don’t like love (2003), his record label had tried to impose a clear path on him. The singer and composer of Spanish origin opposed it, drawing her artistic outline. Today, he is the author of two novels dedicated to women (Drawer with colored drawersin 2020 and Hear the rain fallr, 2022), and he returns after eight years of discographic silence with his sixth album. All combined with the feminine, her songs are an invitation to discover yourself. Electro and meditative, Answer:, the record’s title, marks a return full of enthusiasm. While she finishes her third novel, Olivia Ruiz is also set to go on tour again, hitting the Olympia stage in November 2024.

Madame Figaro: What made you want to record an album after eight years of discographic silence?

Olivia Ruiz:My mother always told me. “We don’t know where we’re going, but we’re going.” I wanted to start going on stage again, rediscover the adrenaline of festivals. My last music show – Stitched mouths, which looked back on my family’s journey fleeing Franco’s Spain, was very intimate. The concerts were like a kind of holy communion. There I wanted explosive energy and, without knowing it, I was ready. I left for the south of France and three days later I already had six new songs.

Nothing is born from nothing. Did writing novels inspire you to create these pieces?

I became much closer to women, creating the heroines of my novels, which enveloped me. They are like the women I love: strong, deep, forgiving. I was also inspired by associations that fight for women’s rights and convey powerful messages: “You will succeed”, “Your body is sacred”, “You are not alone”. I’m close to collectives like #NousToutes or 125 and later which helps women who are victims of violence. I participated in the writing of the book 125 and thousands, by pilot Sarah Baruch, who chronicles the lives of 125 femicide victims. Nadia Guillemin, the woman whose story I am telling, was murdered by her partner in 2022. To find courage in her desperate situation, Nadia danced alone in the kitchen with her whole body as if it was a matter of life or death. The song You are dancing, from my album, is closely related to this woman.

How would you describe the heroines of your novels and what influence do they have on this album?

Rita, the heroine Drawer with colored drawersMy first book is about a woman who is passionate, funny and thirsty for freedom, but trapped by her lack of stamina. Carmen, the basis of my second novel, Hear the rain fall, has been overprotected and wants to face the dangers of life. These female characters are captured with the same vibe that I wanted to infuse into this album.

You have chosen tool seals that directly affect the skin, body…

I wanted to convey the central idea of ​​this album – the liberation of female power – through the sounds it makes. I needed tools that spoke to the body. I went to find them with Frank Marty, a composer I’ve worked with since I was 17. He has a museum of instruments in the south of France, which I enrich with prototypes found during my travels. For this recording we used about twenty instruments, such as the mantle, which is a Colombian guitar with a velvet sound and an inner bass. We also used an Indian electric banjo, which produces shrill, aggressive highs, but also a sensual sound, like a vibration that envelops the body. I was also looking for an aggressive, electro color. I wanted to do boxing with this album. Make people dance! To disturb.

Your songs talk a lot about the body. What have you done to approach yours?

Between the ages of 9 and 12 I was bullied at school for being overweight. This experience shaped my personality. Before that I was a happy little girl, a “high school freak”. I was not afraid of anything: I danced, sang, drew sketches. Since then I have become a body control freak and have only found other ways of liberation through modern dance, music and sex. Today my body is my friend. I thank him and congratulate him.

(1) Answer: (Glory Box Music). April 25th at Printemps de Bourges and November 20th in concert at Olympia.