Queer rock-pop band Hyphen Hyphen releases new track, “Call My Name”

December 9, 2022 Queer Forty Staff 3 min read

Queer French electropop band Hyphen Hyphen has released a brand new track, “Call My Name,” offering a preview of the highly-anticipated new album, C’est la Vie.

The new album, out January 20, 2023 via Parlophone France, features two singles “Don’t Wait For Me“, “Too Young” and latest track, “Call My Name.”

Pre-order/add/save C’est la Vie.

“Call My Name” is an undeniable powerhouse performance for front singer Samanta Cotta—think Adele meets London Grammar.

Having already performed more than 500 concerts in Europe, Hyphen Hyphen was most recently seen Stateside at Summerstage Festival in New York City this past June. Following up with an international tour in 2023, it seems that the coming year will be the year this queer band breaks out big time.

Four years have passed since Hyphen Hyphen’s second album, the brilliant HH, entirely written and self-produced by the band, who hail from Nice.

“When we recorded our previous album, it was all about showing we could be producers. For this one, it was about showing that we are musicians. Everything was recorded live in the studio. We really wanted to get back to the soul of the band,” says Samanta.

The trio started by immersing itself in the back catalogs of bands and artists from the ’70s, from Fleetwood Mac to America, via Bruce Springsteen. They traveled back and forth between the ICP studios in Brussels (where Hyphen Hyphen created their first record) and their personal studio in Paris’s 19th arrondissement, fitted out DIY style during the first French lockdown. And the time to work on writing, thanks to their meeting with Glen Ballard, with whom the trio co-wrote two tracks. A collaborator of Alanis Morissette, Katy Perry and Michael Jackson, the American and Grammy award winner played a key role in this new episode.

“Glen was working on music for series and films and was living in Paris at the time. Our meeting with him was remarkable. He showed us how he wrote and suggested that we approach things in a simpler way, and be more direct in the expression of our emotions. It was the first time we had let someone into our trio, but it felt very natural,” the band revealed.

Other guest collaborators have also joined the adventure, such as mix engineers Mark “Spike” Stent (Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé) and Dan Grech (Lana del Rey), marking the first time either of them had worked with a French artist. Armed with such an impressive cast, this third album is also the most personal for Hyphen Hyphen, who admit that its creation has been a way of overcoming the unprecedented personal upheavals experienced in recent years.

Get the new album here.

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