Beyond The Sounds: A Conversation With anaiis

Abigail Ani meets singer-songwriter anaiis, to discuss her music and experiences, the industry, and society in general.

Source: Anaiis

Over an oat milk hot chocolate in East London, anaiis engages in a raw discussion that moves from her music to our society, reflections, realisations, and more. Indicative of her individuality, the absence of romantic love in anaiis’ music and her exploration of abstract themes led to a conservation that uncovers more about the identity and philosophies of the Toulouse-born, London-based singer-songwriter.

anaiis describes her multi-continental life as “a unique combination of experiences [that allows me to have] my perspective on the world, and my taste, and my identity.” Living in France, Ireland, Senegal, and the USA, and having good and not-so-good experiences, has contributed to the development of a musical sound that she does not consider to be particularly close to any other. One reason for this is her distinctive lyricism. Romantic love has not been a priority in anaiis’ music because her inherent interests lie elsewhere. Instead, she dissects concepts such as self-love, liberation, community, and the black identity, and when compared to what is heard in the mainstream, these lyrics immediately put anaïs in a separate category from many artists.

For example, “woman,” one of anaiis’ most successful pieces, is a lyrical and visual narrative with roots that are centred in the celebration and admiration of women in her life, such as her mum and grandma. However, after multiple performances, anaiis has realised that these lyrics have many other interpretations, one being the importance of self-acceptance, a message that she believes comes from her subconscious. In another example, “oh, man,” anaiis offers her perspective on today’s social issues and her hope for change, and this encourages her listeners to reflect on their communities and actions within them.

It is fair to say that, despite their value, the exploration of themes outside of romantic love is rare and less recognised in music compared to other arts; but anaiis does hope that it will eventually be more normalised. However, given its current position in the industry, at times, she does question her tendency to write lyrics about non-traditional concepts. But when asked about how she combats this negative thought, she responded: “When you chose to do something different, you accept that maybe it’s not going to reach the mainstream in the same way that someone else whose doing something really trendy will, but it doesn’t mean that the value isn’t there.” She says that the value of a piece comes from “the actual content of the work and the purpose and intention behind it,” rather than whether it is contemporary. She goes on to describe the individuality that comes from your identity as “your wealth,” which is something new to offer the world.

Not many artists come to mind as comparable to anaiis, but the iconic band Sade is one that does because of their use of abstract lyricism. Despite their success in writing about traditional and non-traditional concepts, it could be argued that songs like “Pearls” and “Immigrant” did not receive the same type of reception as songs like “Smooth Operator”, because they were not focused on romantic love. However, these songs, much like anaiis’ music, deserve more recognition because of their approach to social issues. They ask people to reflect and be introspective, rather than just having a passive listening experience (that is not to say that all music should have this same purpose). 

anaiis says that “the more that people take ownership of the media and start to spread different stories and positive stories, the more that things can start to shift [within society] ... and it’s the same thing with music.” This is exactly why the music industry and its audiences need to be more receptive and supportive of artists like anaiis, and the use of non-traditional concepts in lyricism.

Source: anaiis

Despite the intention behind her music, code is something that anaiis has used a lot in her writing. But she says: “I'm trying to be less distant now and I’m trying to be less vague because I feel like sometimes [the distancing] it would stem from fear.” This is because realisations and resolutions in her personal life from therapy (an experience she openly discusses) have translated into her music, and facilitated a move towards transparency to the point where she now views vulnerability in her lyricism as a good thing. She also says: “This [understanding of herself] is why I think that I’m moving so much towards the content of self-love.” 

As for language, anaiis says that listeners can expect some of her upcoming work to use both French and English. Mixing languages is something that is part of her everyday life (such as talking with her mum), and she now feels more curious and confident about bringing this part of her identity into her music. “The fact that it’s a different language, it’s almost like using a different brush”. This enables her to navigate musicality and lyricism from different angles.

In 2018, anaiis found out that Daniel Caesar really liked her song “nina” (a tribute to Nina Simone with a multifaceted purpose — a message for people, including herself, to speak up for others as well as themselves), and she met him by chance in Shoreditch. This ‘seed’ then led to a DM asking if she wanted to be the support about a week before his UK tour, which was one of her 2019 highlights. She describes the experience as “a dream come true … the reception was absolutely insane ... it didn’t expect that. I felt like, for the first time in my life, I performed in front of my actual crowd ... I’ve done a lot of supports for a lot of different acts ... but [this] was different.” Another highlight was her participation in a TedxLondonWomen event: this helped her conquer “a decade-long fear of public speaking”, and she was able to share her story by physically showing it to the audience.

As for 2020, anaiis has a lot in store: she intends to complete a residency in Brazil — during which she hopes to write an EP, alongside producing a documentary-film about blackness and community in Brazil, and filming a music video — as well as writing an album, and going on tour this year. 

She is asked what she has learnt from every country she has lived in: “What I’ve learnt is that everyone is capable of good and bad, and that it’s always important to look deeper than the first appearance, and to understand if somebody does something hateful, it most likely comes from a place of ignorance or pain, so we should just be a little bit more kind to each other and try to understand where people are coming from.”