Looking for a French singer from the 90s (long shot, I know)

March 27, 2012 6:29 AM

I was in Paris in April of '96 and kept hearing her song everywhere but never got a chance to pick up the album, which I assume had just been released. It's a solo artist (I'm pretty sure), slow, acoustic guitar, and the video had her sitting in an empty derelict apartment while people peered in through the peephole. I've tried everything I could to find it but gave up until I discovered Mefi. If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear from you.

Checked out this, this, but they were looking for something in the past few years and the one I'm looking for is a bit older.

posted by princeoftheair to Media & Arts (4 answers total)

Does she sing in French? If so, French search terms might be more useful.
posted by brackish.line at 7:20 AM on March 27, 2012

May I suggest Nina Morato - she was fresh off a big Eurovision tour in 1994, and got a lot of exposure in 1996 with L'allumeuse, which featured mostly acoustic accompaniments. Just a shot - the only YouTube video is a live performance, so it doesn't help with the video.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 7:23 AM on March 27, 2012

It may also be Zazie, she does acoustic pretty regularly and has guitars on her tracks, has an incredible voice, and a distinct style. In 1995 her album Zen came out that was a huge hit, songs from it are still played on French radio to this day.

The two hit singles were (Youtube links):
Un point c'est toi
Zen

I can't find the award-winning original video for "Larsen", but here's a live:
Larsen, acoustic live
posted by fraula at 9:44 AM on March 27, 2012 [1 favorite]

(btw, my now-French sensibilities only just realized that the "Un point c'est toi" video is probably NSFW by American standards)
posted by fraula at 9:51 AM on March 27, 2012