Introducing Anouck, who at just 22 years old has performed at festivals such as Cara B, Sónar, and iconic Barcelona venues such as Apolo. She is all about freshness, feminine empowerment, and revelry. After what she recognises as a somewhat dark period in her life, she can finally say that she has an EP that goes beyond that. She releases Ocean and it is a declaration of intentions in the key of R&B and soul.
You are part of the Cutemobb collective and have already performed at Sónar, Cara B Festival, and Sala Apolo, among other festivals and venues. However, you haven't released an EP until now. How did these opportunities present themselves?
Because even though I don’t have any EP out yet, I have some singles and have mostly been singing a lot of covers. Not to forget my management team that have helped me get out there and have these opportunities to introduce myself.
I have the feeling that lately more and more artistic collectives are emerging that create spaces for a type of community that, due to social prejudices, would perhaps have a more difficult time getting themselves out there. When did you join Cutemobb and what are the ideas behind this collective?
I joined two years ago, and it just came naturally. It was never my idea to join the collective, to be honest, but I knew them as friends first and started doing things together and before I knew it, I was in Cutemobb. It has been a blessing.
Thinking about music collectives the first that come to mind are outside your native Barcelona. I'm thinking of 88Rising or Gucci Gang, for example. How is the idea of music as a collective handled here?
Some of these collectives are created as a business or a marketing plan. Cutemobb is really a group of friends that are in the art field and just decided to help each other, pretty much.
Now, however, you are the one releasing your own music. You are releasing Ocean, your first EP. It's entirely in English and draws heavily from R&B. Could you tell me a bit more about it?
Ocean is in English yes, but I might in the future do something in Spanish I don’t know yet, who knows! It is basically the layers of my soul, a way to get to know my thoughts and personal view of life.
In Flowers, you sing: “I’m feeling empowered/the growth that I’ve encountered/like flowers.” What growth are you referring to?
The growth that I’ve encountered by being a woman. I feel like we go through so much more just by being a woman in this society. And we need to remind ourselves of the power that we have, every day is a new lesson for us. Therefore, [I’m talking about] the growth that I have encountered compared to yesterday.
In that same song – which I have to admit is my favourite –, you do a spoken rap where you talk about respect and you refer “to us.” Who are you singing to? Is it female empowerment or self-empowerment?
I am singing this song to everybody who feels like a woman. It is basically a female empowerment song. I just want to uplift us, it feels good. And I just love women in every way possible (laughs). That’s also the reason why in the rap part I say “Baby, where do you think we came from?” We literally give life to human beings, shouldn’t that be considered a superpower?
It should! In your social media, you also say that you make “music for souls.” What do you mean by that? Is it a reference to the people you look up to? Speaking of which, who would you say they are?
I write and sing through my soul, so my aim is that another soul hears, feels, or listens to my message. It’s a soul communication rather than a human one. It has nothing to do with people I look up to. I just feel music is so powerful that it can make other people feel anything. But, I look up to so many people from well known artists to my friends here in Barcelona. And just looking around me, anything can be inspiring to me or make me feel something. I am a very sensitive person.
Compared to your previous singles, it seems that the production of Ocean points towards your maturity as an artist, and your tone has changed. On Circles, for example, you were singing about a dark period in your life whereas this EP feels almost like a celebration. Could you tell me a bit more about that?
It definitely shows me maturing as an artist. I started music two years ago seriously. But I feel this EP finally represents what my mind, body, and soul want to project. This EP is a mix of things, it contains dark periods of my life as also good periods, empowerment and love. It shows different perspectives about how I see life.
What would you say is your future as an artist? How do you imagine it?
I have been asked this many times and I just see myself living off music, being able to share it with as many people as possible, and most importantly, making people feel my music.
