Coco like Chanel, June like Carter.
Fascinated by France and the United States, German singer-songwriter June Cocó wanted to carry these significant influences in her stage name. The Leipzig-based (soon-to-be Berlin-based) artist learned to speak French and English at school, and never let go.
Her love for these two languages, and cultures, also shines through her music, be it her original songs or her covers. In 2020, the musician put her own spin on Métamorphoses, by Parisian duo Ravages (Simon Beaudoux and Martin Chourrout), turning the electro track into a powerful, dramatic piano-led ballad. In return, the pair covered one of her songs, Heavy Heart. These musical transformations inspired June Cocó to give her then latest body of work, Fantasies & Fine Lines (released in 2019 in Germany, in 2021 elsewhere), a makeover. She gave more artists the freedom to reimagine her work as they please, sometimes taking part herself in the process. And thus, in 2021, an album of “remixes” came to life, naturally titled Métamorphoses.
Although she’s been spending a lot of time on her next record (that she’s already looking forward to share with the world), June Cocó wanted to take the time and give a fan-favorite its time in the spotlight, before moving on. Neptune’s Daughter has now a music video, illustrated and animated by Nadège Jankowicz (you can find it at the end of this article).
Neptune’s Daughter obviously evokes the Roman myth from the title alone. But why Neptune? What inspired you?
Actually, the water element has been really important to me… since always. My sign is Aquarius! (laughs) At the time, when I wrote Neptune’s Daughter, I was searching for a way to calm down, be less stressed and find my freedom in nature. And so, anytime I went swimming in the lake – even in winter, I do swim whenever I go jogging, although it’s very cold (laughs) – I would jump in the water, then my head just gets cleared. And from the diving action, comes this idea of a parallel world. I’m a big dreamer. All those myths and fairytales inspire me very much and so, I came up with this phrase (singing): “I’m going to live forever underwater.” That was the beginning. Sometimes I have that: the music and the lyrics come to me at once.
And so on the one hand, I was searching for calm and clarity, and on the other, it was at a time where I decided to put myself out there and go to Berlin – I’ve been living in Leipzig for 10 years – to meet musicians, like: “Hello, let’s work together!” And I put that energy into Neptune’s Daughter. The impulse to start something new. So… new beginnings, that was the second inspiration for the song.
And all of that happened before the pandemic. Then in 2021, you went ahead and released a new version of your whole record. Was it this “new” situation that made you do it?
Actually, it was already planned, but the lockdown gave me the perfect time to actually work on it. Like what happened with the song Métamorphoses, with Ravages, and with the rework of Neptune’s Daughter.
On the new version of Neptune’s Daughter, I worked with a singer and harp player called Arden. We actually played together live in the past. We were planning on doing this song live, but then we weren’t able to do that. And so this version ended up being on the record, and that was very healing in a way.
How did it feel like to go back to something that you wrote a while ago and rework it?
Well… It wasn’t actually that long ago because it was only like a year after I finished it.
But in one year so much had changed in the world. Did having a new perspective change anything for you at all, especially when it comes to a song that’s already about escaping reality?
Like everyone else, with the pandemic, I had time to become even more aware of what really matters in life: people surrounding me who are very important, close friends, and nature. And in the whole album Fantasies and Fine Lines, nature is very present. The record is really kind of an ode to the beauty of nature. Mountains and just everything. And all through the time of “corona”, nature was like my little treasure (laughs). I went into nature any time it was possible, and so, that connection became even stronger, and so did that feeling of wanting to calm down and be at ease.
When releasing the music video, you chose to put a focus on the organization Viva con Agua, why?
It’s a German organization that does very cool projects. To us here, having water to use might seem like something normal, but there isn’t drinkable water everywhere in the world. Viva con Agua supports research and projects– for example, collecting water from clouds, and such.
And you know, this song was already released, but it was my wish to have a music video for it, and I wanted to use it as an opportunity to talk about the importance of water. There’s so much water waste, and there’s plastic in the ocean… I just wanted to help raise more awareness around that.
You talk a lot about your love for nature. Do you see yourself talking about important issues in your music?
I never did that before, I wasn’t “political” at all because I’m not that kind of artist… yet. (laughs) I think it’s very important, if you have a message, that you communicate it. I actually have been wondering about this. I have an opinion, and of course I want to communicate it and share it with the world, and maybe do something, because there are so many bad things happening in the world. But inviting people to dream through music is my part of the cake, for now. I’m that kind of artist. And what I try to communicate is to be more aware of others, be kinder and more tender with one another, and have more respect for each other.
I feel like this has happened with a lot of artists lately who, before the pandemic, didn’t use to get involved in what’s deemed as “political” issues (that are actually often just part of life), but now feel like they can and should say something in certain instances.
Yes. Like female empowerment. There’s a lot going on. I actually had that talk today with someone while hiking. There was this guy telling me: “Oh, it’s all over the news. It’s too much.” And I think it has to be all over the news so it creates this awareness that there is something wrong, still.
What subject are you referring to exactly, being all over the news?
We were talking about equality and female empowerment, especially in the music business. In Germany, there is this rock festival called Rock am Ring – it’s very big – and other festivals. And there was this figure… only 7% of artists in line-ups are female. So there was a big scandal. That was just one part of it, but yeah, it was on the news.
It’s important to make it visible and talk about it. Some people said: “Oh, but there aren’t any female rock bands”, but there are. Of course, there aren’t that many female drummers or guitar players because you need role models for children, so they get that feeling of “I want to do the same thing!”. If nobody starts that, especially the big festivals who can have that impact, who else can?
Earlier you mentioned how there’s water waste and plastic in the oceans. Are the environment and climate change subjects you want to be vocal about?
Actually, in my new songs- (laughs) I can’t help but write about those things! I am not pointing my finger at someone in particular, but I wonder, in general, about what we are doing as human beings. There are so many things going wrong. We’re robbing so many of our treasures and life basics that we won’t have enough life quality in the future. For me, nature, fresh air and a temperature that is agréable are a luxury. It will keep changing: the weather, the mountains… And we have new diseases. Yet, we act like there are no consequences. Or rather, the politicians and the decision-makers act like that. I have strong feelings about it so that influences my lyrics and my music. In one song, I even ask myself “am I human?” and “what is human?”
And how do you conciliate making happy music, like you said you wanted to keep doing, and talking about these kinds of topics that aren’t… so happy?
It’s not a contradiction for me. You can put a serious theme into the lyrics and have a happy soundscape. It’s like two sides of a coin. I love songs like that. Like Lou Reed’s album, New York. It’s very political, he criticizes America, but it’s done in such a funny way. It sounds light, but has deep lyrics. He’s a master, and I hope maybe one day, I can get there and I’m able to tell my stories with that kind of quality of lyrics. But yeah, I think that’s a good way to combine both things. Music has the power to do that. And I remain an optimist who likes to make music that is uplifting.
