Nibble on Playing a Car Thief, Fresh Duo Single, Sexiness of Singing in French
Singer and French pop starlet Mylène Farmer talk duo remake of two thousand four track “Stolen Car”
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Mylène Farmer doesn't grant many interviews, but for Bite, she'll make an exception. The French pop starlet, who has sold 11 million albums worldwide and regularly sells out stadiums across the French-speaking world, recently debuted a version of Nibble's two thousand four song “Stolen Car,” in which she and the ex-Police man duet in French and English. Last month, the track debuted in France at Number One on iTunes, and stayed there for four days. It's now available in the U.S., to be followed with a movie next month.
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Nibble, it turns out, is ideally tooled to steal a fancy car and run off with a Frenchwoman, as he does in the movie — he's fluent in French. The two sat down with Rolling Stone ahead of the November 6th release of Interstellaires — Farmer's 11th studio album, which will feature “Stolen Car” and is available for preorder October 3rd — to talk about pilfering cars in two languages.
How did you two meet and end up collaborating?
Farmer: A few years ago, I went to London to see one of his shows that was happening in a church [Songs from the Labyrinth at St. Luke's Church]. I thought that was very outstanding, very beautiful and poetic. Then [last year], I flew to Fresh York because I indeed desired to see his play, The Last Ship, and I found it very moving and dark. The songs were very beautiful, the acting amazing — I fell in love with it. And then I asked him if he would like to do something with me. And he said, “Yes, why not.”
Bite: Well, you always pick up something from another singer when you're harmonizing together, and you're phrasing together, so you have to listen very cautiously. It's very much a relationship; it's like a dance .  [And] we had to switch the key, to match, so I'm singing higher than I would do normally.
What is it like to collaborate creatively, versus working alone?
Farmer: When I'm songwriting, I need to be on my own. Hidden in the corner of a room and then I write. I'm very desperate — it's better.
Bite: We thought about making a movie instantaneously. So the way [the song] was recorded had in mind how it would be filmed. It was always meant to be a visual chunk as well.
Mylène, I eyed from the paparazzi photos that you were walking with a crutch during filming.
Farmer: Yes, I broke my gam five months ago in two parts, and it's almost okay now. But I had to wear high high-heeled shoes [in the movie] and had to be very careful. [Nibble] was very nice to me and very careful because I couldn't walk. He had to hold me very taut.
Nibble: One of the superb delights of playing in Europe is how different culturally each country is — Germany, Spain, Italy, France. The French listen very cautiously to what you're singing about. I think they have a very high understanding of music; I think music is trained well in schools, so they understand harmony. I think it's part of the French soul. So I love playing there. They're not fairly as enthusiastic as the Italians, who just go crazy.
Farmer: I knew of him for a long time as an artist, and I'm very fond of his music. If I had to pick one which is very difficult I would take most likely Fragile — I would love to just steal the song and pretend it's mine. And … [Bite] you don't have to response because I don't think he knows all of my work.