BOUTONNAT IS BACK : Julia , the new Alizée ?

[BroKenSkullDG]

Originally Posted by CleverCowboy

How's the album doing as far as sales? I've tried to find it on several Billboard-like web sites for France, and cannot find the album or any singles listed. Maybe I am not looking in the right places.

I woudn't know where to look either. I've read, that it sold about 1.800 copies in it's first week, Alizée's Blonde did about twice as much in comparison, I believe. That may refer to physical sales only, however. It dropped out of the iTunes Charts in France fairly quickly too, it ranked there for about the first week after release before it fell out.

It reached the Top 40 of the physical Charts in it's first week, it ranked #10 (Download and Streaming included) after the first three days, stayed in the Top 200 in it's second week and has since dropped out completely.

I've recently read that the Album was already finished late last year, but Boutonnat (ever the perfectionist) continued to refine it even throughout the confinement period.

Also, the other Song that was written for Julia before the recording process for the Album began, was "Passe... Comme Tu Sais". Every other Song was created after. Every Song that was created ended up on this Album. Julia DID in fact write her own Songs too, she may save that for later though.

She was 15 and a half when SEXTO was presented to her. Makes me wonder how far back this all started? She was 17 when the Song came out.

She does make plans for a second Album and would like it to be with Mylène and Laurent, there hasn't been any specific talk about this yet, however. She also plans to MAYBE include one of her self-written Songs on it.

[Alex Rien]

[CleverCowboy]

Originally Posted by BroKenSkullDG

I woudn't know where to look either. I've read, that it sold about 1.800 copies in it's first week, Alizée's Blonde did about twice as much in comparison, I believe. That may refer to physical sales only, however. It dropped out of the iTunes Charts in France fairly quickly too, it ranked there for about the first week after release before it fell out.

It reached the Top 40 of the physical Charts in it's first week, it ranked #10 (Download and Streaming included) after the first three days, stayed in the Top 200 in it's second week and has since dropped out completely.

I'm not sure if this is good or bad news, or what was expected? I would interpret this as a bit disappointing. Her fans that have been anticipating the release of the album bought it right away, but she failed to attract new fans and sales dried up. It can be compared to the Blonde album in that way. Well, to be optimistic, I know of a lot of artists that struggled with sales their first few albums and then hit pay dirt on their third or fourth album.

Originally Posted by BroKenSkullDG

She does make plans for a second Album and would like it to be with Mylène and Laurent, there hasn't been any specific talk about this yet, however. She also plans to MAYBE include one of her self-written Songs on it.

I've brought it up before, but maybe pop is not where Julia belongs? Her singing voice is outstanding, maybe too outstanding for pop music. Julia sang a Whitney Houston song and nailed it. I recently watched a documentary on Whitney Houston on Netflix in the last few weeks. Houston can just stand on stage and mesmerize the audience with just her voice. No dancing or stage props needed. I'm not trying to say that Julia is the next Whitney Houston or Adele, but it would be smart of her to explore other musical styles.

[BroKenSkullDG]

If she's writing Songs by herself (and according to her Mylène and Laurent gave her positive Feedback on them), then this means that she knows what she wants which is a good sign. Maybe it'll clear their schedule up for someone else?

The disappointing sales were definitely expected. Julia received hardly any promotion and having Farmer and Boutonnat produce for her was only ever going to attract Fans of said duo. Those Fans are all probably long time Fans themselves, Julia's Songs however are meant to attract a younger audience, I mean she was never in the best place to really succeed. But then again success is a relative term here. I mean they're expectations can't have been that high either. Realistically, they must have known.

Mylène looks to be next on the wheel for now. I'm still hopeful for a collaboration with Alizée in some form. I've mentioned the idea of a Duet before...

[CleverCowboy]

Originally Posted by BroKenSkullDG

If she's writing Songs by herself (and according to her Mylène and Laurent gave her positive Feedback on them), then this means that she knows what she wants which is a good sign. Maybe it'll clear their schedule up for someone else?

If Julia wants her audience to notice her voice yet want to reach the younger age group, that will be quite a challenge. It will be hard to compete with all the hip hop artists, which seems to be the music choice of young people. Maybe things are different in France.

Since you hinted at Alizee maybe doing something, I can't think of a better time for her to start working on her next album. Dance studio is still closed and it's wishful thinking to assume it will be open soon. There is only so much hanging out by the backyard pool a person can take, plus cooler weather is coming, so working on an album doesn't sound so far-fetched.

Originally Posted by BroKenSkullDG

The disappointing sales were definitely expected. Julia received hardly any promotion and having Farmer and Boutonnat produce for her was only ever going to attract Fans of said duo. Those Fans are all probably long time Fans themselves, Julia's Songs however are meant to attract a younger audience, I mean she was never in the best place to really succeed. But then again success is a relative term here. I mean they're expectations can't have been that high either. Realistically, they must have known.

Mylène looks to be next on the wheel, currently preparing a new best of collection spanning the past decade, with a few new songs do come along with it. And then there's still Alizée? I absolutely refuse to believe that this won't eventually lead to something.

If they were expecting lackluster sales, then I guess it wouldn't be too much of a disappointment, if at all. Then I have to ask, why put in all the work that went into making the album? Mylene goes for the win, and she seems to always get the win, so the Julia project leaves me scratching my head. A young Alizee was making numerous appearances on shows singing her songs and getting a lot of exposure. Julia only performed on one show to sing SEXTO (that I know of), and a few interviews. Perhaps Covid had a lot to do with the lack of promotion? They pushed out the release date to summer, and that is when most "experts" though the pandemic would be over. It still lingers, so maybe the decision was made to just release the album, hope for the best and move on to the next album.

Do you think having the stage name of "Julia" helps her or hurts her? If you search for Julia on YT, you will get a million hits of every Julia out there with a video. You search for Alizee, and you will get our Alizee at the top. Alizee also sings a Madonna and a France Gall song, so it increases the chances of Alizee being stumbled onto by the fans of them. I'm pretty sure Mylene planned it this way. In comparison, Julia's exposure seemed to be boxed in to mainly Mylene/Boutonnat and/or Alizee fans. What do you think?

[Alex Rien]

Originally Posted by CleverCowboy

Perhaps Covid had a lot to do with the lack of promotion? They pushed out the release date to summer, and that is when most "experts" though the pandemic would be over.

That`s true.

Do you think having the stage name of "Julia" helps her or hurts her?

Her full name is Julia Fiquet. I don`t think it hurts.

In comparison, Julia's exposure seemed to be boxed in to mainly Mylene/Boutonnat and/or Alizee fans. What do you think?

I think so. Most of her fans are from Mylene/Alizee fan-base.

[BroKenSkullDG]

Her real name is Julia Fiquet. I'm not exactly sure how much more marketable that is. They could have included her last name here and there though. On Social Media or Website Domains for example. To help distinguish her from all the other Julia's out there. You're right, it is a common name and that sure isn't going to help, but i'm sure it doesn't hurt that much either.

On a different note, there was the information going around that she was preparing a Live Performance of "Et Toi Mon Amour" with a number of male dancers for The Voice earlier this year before COVID-19 came inbetween and the Album's Release Date was postponed as well. It's like you said in an earlier Post: the bad luck she's had.

Whether or not her second Album will be produced by Farmer & Boutonnat again, remains to be seen. Julia herself is unsure, which hopefully opens up a Spot for Alizée again. Mylène's reappereance in her life seems to have had some sort of effect on her. She seems to jump at the opportunity of performing her Songs, then there are all of the re-releases on Digital Platforms and of course the Vinyls later this year, courtesy of Requiem Publishing, which means even if it's just a small treat for Collectors (which is about as much as you'd expect right now, with the World in it's current state and Maggy still very young), it is still very indicative and if nothing else a good sign in my opinion. Fingers crossed.

Edit:

I have been scrolling through a Mylène dedicated Forum and let me just say how grateful I am that the people here are at least civilized. The Mylène Farmer Fanbase seems to be downright toxic in comparison...

Edit:

Without trying to spread any untruthful rumors, I just read a comment that suggested that Mylène and Laurent first offered new Songs to Alizée, who declined (possibly due to her wish to expand her Family) and thus they were forced to find someone else. Julia wasn't promoted in any way, there is nothing in the form of a major hit on her Album and it flopped big time (undeservedly so, because it is really good). Maybe it was a one and done Deal, to give Alizée the time she needs? I know that this is far fetched but with Mylène you never know...

[CleverCowboy]

Originally Posted by BroKenSkullDG

I have been scrolling through a Mylène dedicated Forum and let me just say how grateful I am that the people here are at least civilized. The Mylène Farmer Fanbase seems to be downright toxic in comparison...

That is a great complement to the quality of members that we have. In the early days of this forum, things sometimes got out of hand. Reading threads from the early days would attest to that. As Alizee web sites started closing down, AAm ended up becoming the last of her fan sites that had a forum. Retaining our good members and attracting new ones meant that the forum needed to maintain an inviting environment. The current set of moderators have done a good job of doing just that. There has been a few problems here and there but they get resolved quickly.

Originally Posted by BroKenSkullDG

Without trying to spread any untruthful rumors, I just read a comment that suggested that Mylène and Laurent first offered new Songs to Alizée, who declined (possibly due to her wish to expand her Family) and thus they were forced to find someone else. Julia wasn't promoted in any way, there is nothing in the form of a major hit on her Album and it flopped big time (undeservedly so, because it is really good). Maybe it was a one and done Deal, to give Alizée the time she needs? I know that this is far fetched but with Mylène you never know...

Hmm. Interesting. I think maybe you picked up this from the Mylene forum?

In a way, it would explain some things, such as the lack of promotion for Julia that we were just discussing, and the delays in the album in general. It makes Julia seem like an afterthought and not a priority like Alizee was when she started.

Now that Maggy is 9 months old (hard to believe time went by that fast), Alizee has plenty of free babysitting services nearby that she trusts. Still, I don't see her wanting to be separated from Maggy for any extended length of time. The stars seem to be lining up which seem to point to Alizee at least considering doing another album, but I have been down this road before and nothing became of it. I don't want to get my hopes too high.

[BroKenSkullDG]

It might explain plenty. "SEXTO" and "Passe... Comme Tu Sais" were pre-written and at least the former didn't suit Julia at all, it was closer to Alizée's established Universe, which is where all of the Lolita comparisons came from, since the Song struck a similar tone in it's writing (not to mention Julia's overall presentation that accompanied the Song). Either that or they completely miscalculated Julia before meeting her.

I'm not getting my hopes up either but it's better to stay positive. For now, I'm anticipating the release of the Vinyls.

Someone wrote:
- 2021 new Mylène Farmer Album
- 2022 new Alizée Album (w/ Mylène and Laurent)
- 2023 new Julia Album (w/ Mylène and Laurent)

That should satisfy every Fan.

[Alex Rien]

Originally Posted by BroKenSkullDG

It might explain plenty. "SEXTO" and "Passe... Comme Tu Sais" were pre-written and at least the former didn't suit Julia at all, it was closer to Alizée's established Universe, which is where all of the Lolita comparisons came from, since the Song struck a similar tone in it's writing.

Do you mean SEXTO was written for Alizee? Of course it was not. Moi Lolita was also pre-written.