At Palomosa, Cannelle gave the impression of already being a pop star even before anyone really knew her music. What strikes you first is her whole vibe: a certain presence, an attitude, a way of commanding the stage with a meta energy. There’s something very “fashion icon first” about her, a presence that evokes both European pop icons and the internet aesthetics of the Tumblr era. The crowd reacts immediately to this energy; an almost Boiler Room-like effect takes hold in the audience thanks to the intimate proximity to the singer.
Originally from a small village between Marseille and Aix-en-Provence, now based in New York, Cannelle still strongly carries the cultural references of southern France in her approach. Marseille emerges as an important point of reference: a city associated with alternative scenes, marginal spaces, and a certain DIY culture that still nourishes several European artistic communities. In her interview with WIRES00, she discusses free parties, improvised dance spaces, and rave culture as spaces of collective freedom. This vision resonates particularly in Montreal’s current context, as many alternative venues are closing or becoming increasingly precarious, such as Parquette or Espace Durocher. Behind the highly controlled pop aesthetic, there is also a commitment to more underground forms of gathering.
Her work is also rooted in her deep involvement in the artistic direction of her projects. Visuals, clothing, internet references, and cinematic inspirations seem to be an integral part of her music rather than merely accompanying it. Traces of Michel Ocelot can be found in her world, particularly through the magical and hybrid imagination of princes and princesses, but also the influence of figures like Madonna in the way she uses femininity as performance, transformation, and the power of image. Cannelle thus constructs a pop style where music, fashion, and staging become inseparable, creating a character who seems to have emerged from the internet.
This coherence between image, music, and performance makes one especially eager to see how far this universe could be pushed in a more immersive context. In an alternative space or a more developed stage design, Cannelle’s aesthetic could take on an even stronger dimension, somewhere between a concert, a performance, and a visual installation.
