Paris, Ile de France, France — Shamaël’s music is the unprocessed, heartfelt result of growing up to the ruthless humor of Tom Lehrer, haunting delta blues rhythm, age and genderless vocals of Simon and Garfunkel, mystical introspective lyrics of Johnny Cash, and taking in entire slices of life immersed into many different cultures, languages and melodic identities. Under the right emotional lighting, remnants of Fijian acapella singing, surgical Easter egg jokes, sarcastic digs at whatever’s in sight and sound experiments with anything within reach come together with the unexpected structure of graffiti on an abandoned building and the grainy echo of a secret underground passageway.
Writing songs started out as a way around shyness, a way around speaking her mind. Shamaël says, “As long as the lyrics were cryptic enough and hidden behind enough puns and bad diction, adding melody was the perfect way to get to know the sound of my own voice without actually speaking out.”
Songs could never be reworked, lyrics could never be altered, it all had to come out in one go or doubt would take over and the whole idea would crumble. Shamaël honed her craft through cover songs, sheltered by the creativity of others until one of them blew up on Soundcloud and she could not hide anymore.
A few months later, Shamaël released her first EP, not because of confidence but as a last tribute to her first and biggest fan, who left this Earth leaving behind the mental equivalent of an uncapped pen, which she had to choose whether to let dry or keep using. Rockabye came into the world as a tribute to him, a snapshot of us, and the artist knew it couldn’t stop there.
Describing Queer in the Headlights felt like an impossible task, because of how self-centered it first seemed. How do you introduce yourself when you’re not sure of who you are? And then it all came together, ever so simply.
Shamaël describes, “Queer in the Headlights isn’t about me. It isn’t about what makes me different, or what I thought sets me apart from others. It’s about looking inwards, then outwards, and realizing you’re not that different if you know where to look.”
There has to be another kid who shadow-danced in a gasoline puddle, there has to be another creepy kid that only blends in on Halloween, there has to be another nerd jubilating as the sci-fi shirts he got mocked for took over mainstream racks, there has to be another one who needs to turn off the lights in order to feel like they exist, there has to be another who doesn’t know how to live if they don’t keep walking. Giants, Scarecrow, Tapping on the Glass, Untouchable, Trusty Shoes. The other two are pretty self-explanatory.
As for the title? Rolls off the tongue, and History backs it up too… But it sums up the idea pretty well.
How do you go from being a deer in the headlights to being queer in the spotlight?
« Who’d have known that all it takes is to let a couple of years go by… »
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ABOUT
Accidental homemade folk, cryptic lyrics with bad diction, and spontaneous blues featuring shoelaces and kitchen tools. hypothetical supra cognitive metaphor of my unpolished and primitive coping mechanisms, who knows.
Shamaël’s music is the unprocessed, heartfelt result of growing up to the ruthless humor of Tom Lehrer, haunting delta blues rhythm, age and genderless vocals of Simon and Garfunkel, mystical introspective lyrics of Johnny Cash, and taking in entire slices of life immersed into many different cultures, languages and melodic identities. Under the right emotional lighting, remnants of Fijian acapella singing, surgical Easter egg jokes, sarcastic digs at whatever’s in sight and sound experiments with anything within reach come together with the unexpected structure of graffiti on an abandoned building and the grainy echo of a secret underground passageway.
CONTACT
Shamaël
Name: Shamaël
Email: yam.sureau@gmail.com
LINKS
Instagram: https://instagram.com/mostlyshamael
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7fL7Qr4tB9Qzpqx5MoPxcA
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/shamaeldoesstuff
