Music show: Leyla McCalla blends diasporic sounds on ‘Sun without the Heat’

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00:00Hello and welcome to Arts24's weekly music show on France24. Today I have the pleasure

00:16of being joined in the studio by an American multi-instrumentalist.

00:37Cello, tenor, banjo, guitar and multilingual singer-songwriter Leila McCalla counts Barack

00:43Obama as a fan. Her music vibrates from three centuries of history and influences from around

00:48the globe. Her new album is no different, blending sounds from the diaspora including

00:52Afrobeat, Ethiopian modalities, Brazilian Tropicalism, Folk and American Blues. She's

00:57on tour and has dropped in to see us in the studio. Leila McCalla, hello and thanks for

01:01joining us.

01:02Hey, thanks for having me.

01:03Now you're about to play at Paris' Marquinhos venue. That's a personal favourite of mine

01:07and I know that you have the same kind of feelings towards it as well.

01:10Yeah.

01:11And I also believe that's somewhere that helps you with your French, is that right?

01:16Yeah. I mentioned that in my video. I played there years ago when I was touring with the

01:21Carolina Chocolate Drops and I think that was the first time that I was like really

01:27starting to talk to people. I think it was a little glass of red wine like really gets

01:33the conversation going.

01:34It always helps. A good confidence drink.

01:37Yes.

01:38So now you're ready to talk to people in the crowd. When you tour around France, do you

01:41feel more confident?

01:42Yeah. No, my French has really come a long way the past 10 plus years of touring in France

01:50and ever since I released my first record, France has been a very kind landing place

02:00for my music. And I think there's a lot of history that I talk about that's related

02:08to France and cultural and social conversation that is applicable here. And then of course

02:15my family's from Haiti. I sing in Haitian Creole and so there's a historical connection.

02:25There's a huge Haitian diaspora here in Paris. And yeah, it's amazing when you're immersed

02:31and you have to survive how a language kind of comes through you.

02:38Now you're actually on tour with your fifth solo album that came out this spring called

02:42Sun Without the Heat. And now that title is a reference to a Frederick Douglass speech

02:46from 1857 that was done in front of a largely white crowd of abolitionists. And this was

02:52about six years before the Emancipation Proclamation. Why this choice of reference for the album?

02:59I think that when I was, you know, I do a lot of research for all of my records and

03:04I read a lot and I was reading a book written by a woman named Susan Raffo called Liberated

03:10to the Bone. And in it she talks a lot about, you know, the kind of original wounds of American

03:19society and Western civilization in general. And, you know, she talks about the genocide

03:27of indigenous people, the enslavement of Africans, the transatlantic slave trade. And, you know,

03:35I just think that there's kind of this misconception that like, oh, that was then, it was normal

03:42to have slaves then. Like, it was never normal to enslave people and build an empire on it.

03:51It was always, it was always wrong. And people knew that in 1857. But what I think is so

03:58interesting about that quote in particular, I mean, I read it in the book and it just

04:04immediately struck me as lyrics to a song. And it was a song that I felt like I had to

04:09write.

04:10You said that you wanted to make an album that was kind of full of grief, but also joy.

04:14And despite releasing this album back in spring, as I mentioned, it really kind of seems to

04:17reflect this current mood that we're in or the mood in the United States, especially

04:22a week on from the presidential elections. And even in Kamala Harris's concession speech,

04:28she said that only when it's dark enough, you can see the stars. I'm wondering, do you

04:32personally see the stars?

04:35That's a good question. I think if you squint really hard, stars appear. You know, I feel

04:46like there is a lot to be hopeful about. You know, I know that a lot of people are feeling

04:53a lot of despair about the election. I feel despair that we are not more engaged with

05:04each other and with what's happening in our society and in our world in general. You know,

05:12a presidential election is, you know, it's a consequential moment, but it's also really

05:18a reflection of what we haven't been doing, you know, what we haven't been tending to.

05:28You know, I feel that there was a lost opportunity at the Democratic National Convention to silence

05:39Palestinian voices. There are consequences to only telling some parts of the truth. And

05:52sadly, much of the American public is totally fine with that.

05:56Yeah. Well, let's turn to some joy now to have a little change. Sorry. No, but it's

06:02an important conversation. We're looking for the stars. No, but it's, you know, you have

06:06to find the stars in darkness, as we're saying. Now, one of the tracks off your album that

06:10best represents this kind of search for joy is Scale to Survival. Take a quick listen.

06:17Thank you for laughing me into this portal.

06:25What you learned drowning taught me how to breathe.

06:32One ear to the earth. One ear to the sky.

06:40Reminds me that life is not a straight line.

06:45So that was very beautiful. Scale to Survive from Layla McCalla's latest album, Sun Without

06:50the Heat. Now, as you mentioned at the beginning of the show, you were born in New York to

06:54Haitian parents and they emigrated to the US in the 60s, escaping the Duvalier dictatorship.

07:00And Haiti is often at the heart of your work, including your critically acclaimed album,

07:05Breaking the Thermometer, where you really kind of shone a spotlight on the brave work

07:09of journalists at Radio Haiti, who really risked their lives just doing their job. Why

07:14did you want to spotlight their work?

07:19I mean, I think that in general, I'm drawn to stories that feel like they need to be

07:24told that people might not be aware of, especially Haitians of my generation who are living in

07:33the diaspora and looking for a connection to Haiti. I think there's so much to learn

07:40from the experience and the work of these journalists in the 80s and 90s when we were,

07:47you know, being born and little kids. And so for me, that sort of reaching back to understand

07:57the present moment is just a recurring theme. It's a big part of my creative practice. But

08:03I think particularly with Haiti, a country that has been so traditionally maligned, misunderstood,

08:11ostracized, isolated, and sort of denied its sovereignty, you know, Haiti paid billions

08:22of dollars in reparations to the French government. These are things that are all interconnected.

08:30And I feel journalists, who are people who are committed to telling the truth, need to

08:37be spotlighted, you know, at all times.

08:43Now, going back to the US elections, this is actually the first Arts24 music show since

08:50the results came in. Now, lots of artists on the campaign trail really took to supporting

08:54Kamala Harris, like Beyonce and Taylor Swift. And in the aftermath of the election results,

09:00we saw an outpouring of reaction from the likes of Billie Eilish, as well as Ariana

09:05Grande. I'm interested to know your opinion on what role artists should play. Should they

09:09speak out? Should they take action?

09:13I think they should, you know, lead with integrity. If they feel drawn to taking action, then

09:21I think that they should. If they feel that strongly about something, absolutely. You

09:30know, I think it's an individual thing. I think what I love about being able to make

09:36a life in music and make a life in art is getting to process these moments on an emotional

09:44level. And I think artists really connect us with our humanity. And so, you know, I

09:53applaud those women for speaking their truth.

09:57Now you're actually a founding member of Our Native Daughters with Rhiannon Giddens, Amethyst

10:02Kia and Alison Russell. Now, this group has long been exploring the black legacies of

10:07country music and Americana. This was long before Beyonce released Cowboy Carter. Now,

10:13you've met quite a lot of resistance releasing this record, especially from the country music

10:18sector. What did you make of all this backlash?

10:22Racism. I mean, I think it's pretty simple. You know, I think it's pretty simple. Racism.

10:30I think it's pretty, you know, Beyonce's record is undoubtedly a country record. And actually

10:40she kind of speaks to that, like she wanted to make a record to break through that glass

10:48ceiling and to claim what she felt was denied to her. And I think the backlash to it has

10:57been so interesting because it just shows that black women are still being policed,

11:07you know, and the cultural zeitgeist, like, you know, Beyonce has every right to make

11:13a country record.

11:15Yeah. Well, she's actually having the last laugh because her album, Cowboy Carter, has

11:2211 Grammy nominations as now the most nominated artist in Grammy history. Now we're going

11:29to quickly move on to some other music releases of the week and American rock band Lincoln

11:33Parker back seven years after the suicide of frontman Chester Bennington. They've dropped

11:38their eight studio album from zero as well as announcing a new lineup. Emily Armstrong

11:42has replaced Chester Bennington as lead singer, but has had quite a lot of criticism due to

11:47her alleged ties to the church of Scientology and her past support of convicted rapist Danny

11:52Masterson. Now, Armstrong later released a statement distancing herself from the actor.

11:57The band have been on tour. Let's listen to one of the tracks of the album, Mrs. Over

12:01each other.

12:31Okay, that's some new Lincoln Park. Now we've come to the end of the show and I thank our

12:38guest Layla McCalla for coming into the studio. Good luck with the rest of your tour. Thank

12:42you. Now we're going to end with another music release from rapper and singer 070 Shake called

12:47Petritor. Now we'll leave you with the video for Winter Baby New Jersey Blues featuring

12:52her girlfriend, Franco-American actress Lily Rose Depp. Now for more arts and culture,

12:56you can head to our website. There's more news coming up on France 24 after this.

13:01New Jersey blues, my baby gets me through. Cherry syrup, medicine, cures nightmares too.

13:09Toxic fears, processed foods. I pay my dues, I did my time, now I'm coming home to you.

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