Camille Jansen is among all other things an artist: From her Youtube days, where her stellar piano cover of the Kooks’ ‘Taking Pictures of You’ has amassed over 700,000 views, to her modeling career (she is currently signed by NEXT and has appeared in campaigns for H&M and Urban Outfitters). At her core is a deeply personal, passionate, and empathetic artist who wants to put every inch of her heart on the table, hoping you’ll sing along to the melody of it’s beating. She returns to music with her first official single off of what is promised to be a larger project: the enigmatic, charming Louise.
The sound of Louise was crafted lovingly by Jansen, Sacha Rudy, Lewis Offman, and Devon Ross almost a year ago. Think: the storytelling of the Beatles’ Eleanor Rigby, mixed with the smooth, jazzy bass line of Maya Hawke’s So Long, and sprinkled with the slight french lilt of Edit Piaf’s vowel sounds. Jansen’s raw, emotive, and sometimes euphonous vocals glide beautifully above the smoky track, pulling us deeper into the enticing picture of the mysterious Louise.
Louise is actually Camille’s middle name, and corresponds with a series of photographs she posted about a year ago, each with a caption about “Louise”. This, for me at least, changed the meaning of the song. At first listen, I believed that Louise was the woman Jansen wanted to be, enviously watching her walk, groove, and “come and go as she pleases”. But now, I know that Louise is, in fact, a part of Jansen: a name inherently connected with herself. Perhaps Louise is a facet of herself she wishes to bring out more, only seen in quiet moments with herself. Perhaps Louise is the woman she had become without her lover: laughing bittersweetly as she watches them stare at her in her single glory. Or even, perhaps in her mind scape, as Jansen replays the supercut of her now-over relationship, she thinks of Louise as the “woman of love and patience” that, if called upon, could have saved their doomed fate.
A beautiful portrait of an artist we have yet to know so much about, Jansen keeps her mystery alive while giving the listener a taste of her inner monologue.
Listen to Louise and let me know what you think! The music video is coming soon, and I’ll be reviewing it as well.
P.S.: Camille, if you’re reading this, I adore you and would die to interview you. Message me if you enjoyed this :)
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