VIDEO: INTERVIEW – Charlotte Cardin Says Move To Paris Has Been Inspiring, Talks Influence on New EP

Singer/songwriter Charlotte Cardin released her sophomore album ’99 Nights’ via Cult Nation/Atlantic Records to much anticipation in August of this year. The Canadian native had garnered much acclaim (and Platinum-sales certification in Canada) including multiple 2022 Juno Awards for her debut full-length album ‘Phoenix’ that was released in 2021, and there was much to build upon. Cardin had actually composed many of the songs on ’99 Nights’ while on the road during that tour cycle with initial sessions taking place in Montréal and continued the writing process in London, Los Angeles, and Toronto. Cardin stated, “We called it 99 Nights, because it was a big journey through all of these worlds I needed to explore in order to touch base with the most important things in my life. I realized I needed to get the fuck out of where I was. The 99 Nights are a symbol of one chapter closing and another beginning. It’s nostalgic because there’s an ending, but it’s very hopeful since I’m starting over. The first few months of the process traced a path for the sound, emotion, and stories I would be sharing, hence the title.” The need to explore didn’t stop with the music, as Cardin has recently established residence in Paris, France. Born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Cardin is no stranger to the French language as her parents are French immigrants to Canada but only now has she taken the leap to live outside the region for the first time. Citing the need for a change of scenery for more inspiration and community of artists, Cardin shared, “I had never really lived anywhere else so I just needed to see new faces, be surrounded by new talent, new landscapes and cityscapes and I just needed new things.” As for why she chose Paris, she stated, “Paris seemed like the right choice for a lot of reasons and it’s obviously extremely rich culturally, there’s always something to do, the food scene, the art scene, the the movie scene, the theater scene. Everything is just so dynamic in Paris and it’s been extremely inspiring to live there. There’s not one dull moment in Paris.” Paris was also where Cardin wrote and recorded her recently released EP, ‘Une semaine à Paris’, which contains tracks sung in French and were crafted right after the ’99 Nights’ sessions. “We wanted to release something a little bit more spontaneous in French and I wanted to keep writing, ” Cardin shared, “I was treating it in my mind kind of like a little mixtape of different inspirations, different collaborations and I was fine with the idea of having a handful of songs that sounded a little bit different and didn’t necessarily tell one story but were just little chapters of a week in Paris.”

Charlotte Cardin speaks with B-Sides host Pete Mar about her recent move to Paris and how inspiring the city is to making music, especially her latest EP ‘Une semaine à Paris’, touring her recently released album ’99 Nights’, astrology and more.