France has got bigger things on its mind than pop music right now, but if there’s a singer who’s worth hearing in this time of political upheaval, it’s Jain.
Having grown up in Toulouse, Dubai, the Republic of Congo and Abu Dhabi with a French father and half-Madagascan mother, it’s pretty clear that the culture-hopping 25-year-old born Jeanne Galice won’t be voting for the Front National.
Her vibrant song Heads Up directly addresses the climate in her homeland today: “Heads up for this time where fear's not a leader, where open mind is stronger,” she sings.
Her debut album, Zanaka (which means “child” in her mother’s language) incorporates reggae, afrobeat and irresistably rhythmic pop. Since its release in France in 2015 it’s become a gold seller and led to her making striking live appearances two years running at France’s Grammy equivalent, the Victoires de la Musique.
She ought to be basking in her success and getting on with making a second album at this stage, but instead she’s finding that other countries are belatedly pricking up their ears.
She’s been on Later… With Jools Holland this week and has announced a London show for June. She gets my vote to match the slow-burning success of another inventive Frenchwoman, Christine and the Queens.
June 20, Village Underground, EC2 (020 7422 7505, villageunderground.co.uk)