Christine and the Queens’ Sophomore album “Chris” is an album of duality, a male alter-ego expressed through the lens of femininity and translated bilingually. It sits in the canon of French singer and songwriter Héloïse Letissier’s already unapologetic songwriting conventions. Ones that have already dealt with conflict surrounding the gender binary of our time. “I’m a man now,” she sings in one of the more acclaimed tracks, “It” from her first effort. She admits the line to be “grotesque” or “tragic” depending on the circumstance. I tend to fall on the latter. Understanding the barriers placed on woman in an industry run by men can be frustrating, she’s had enough - she’s a man now. With “Chris” she’s desexualized her music. It’s an ode to understanding the power found in womanhood through exploring lyrically, what is masculinity. Feminine figures can be lustful, horny, and sometimes angry in the way of a man. Ultimately, what is presented is an exploration of identity and sexuality through complex emotional standards, something that is often forlorn in the pop landscape.
On stage, Letissier and her cast of characters find comfort in euro-dance beats, opting for color blocked apparel and a less obvious subject. The song “5 dollars” is peak double entendre. Letissier describes the song as “dealing with some kind of love – the kind you can buy.” The cast of dancers literally runs circles around Letissier as she sings, “You’re eager and unashamed, I grieve by dying every night baby, Prove them wrong when you get, 5 dollars.” An ode to sex work; to have control of one’s own sexuality and go beyond what is categorically the “idealized” woman. Control over one’s own sexual identity, something she echoes in saying, “dying every night,” a subtly wink at “la petite mort,” in this case masturbation is the complete embodiment of self-actualization.
While most of her songs continue with her belief in elaborate detail, glimmering beats, and overly constructed dance sections, performances of songs like “What’s-Her-Face” and a surprise cover of Kanye West’s pop masterpiece “Heartless” round out the set with the equal but opposite emotion of solitude. A single spotlight amongst a sea of darkness contrasts the bright blues of songs prior. She describes the former as “always feeling like the weird, lonely kid sitting on the bench despite your success.” With a peak comes a pit, at least according to modern-day Confucius, Kim Kardashian – the sentiment rings true.
Letissier has a way of making something small seem anthemic. Her performance at The Wiltern was no different; it’s own petite mort, if you will. It feels like the sonic embodiment of the scene in _Pleasantville_ where Reese Witherspoon teaches her mother about the wonders of masturbation– suddenly the world is a little less gray. Having listened to “Chris” nonstop for the past few days in preparation, I list it high on my albums of Meredith Grey “dance-it-out” moments or the other kind of “dance-it-out” moment (wink not pictured) along with Robyn’s “Body Talk” and Lorde’s “Melodrama.”
Go into this album for the rush, for the high, and for the ride. Find comfort in its euro-dance beats and characters that might not be the obvious choice.
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