In the same way that the French verb “surfer” takes its derivative from the English “to surf,” French musician Anna Jean’s project Juniore distills West Coast buoyancy and Hazlewood-esque production through a gallic filter. She picks up pieces from her own country’s past along the way, too—her band moves with a bit of Serge Gainsbourg’s go-go verve, her voice is drained by a bit of Brigitte Fontaine’s brainy detachment.
But “Mon Autre,” whose video we’re thrilled to be premiering today, is fully original and of the moment. The spaciness of the song’s verses is offset by the boot-walking chorus and Jean’s soft but precise delivery. “‘Mon Autre’ is a track about the way girls (and boys) can sometimes have conflicted conversations with themselves,” Jean says. “Somewhere between Catherine Deneuve’s psychotic paranoia in Polanski’s Repulsion and the delusion of having superhero-like powers in Scott Pilgrim Versus the World. When the ego and the superego disagree, living with your ‘other self’ (“mon autre” in French) can feel pretty maddening at times.”
For the video, Jean asked friends, fans, and strangers to send in videos of themselves singing the song. It’s a neat echo of the song’s thematic concerns, thirty or so faces to put to “Mon Autre”’s conflicted voice. You can check it out below.
Juniore’s self-titled album is out now on Burger.
