Womanly Interview: Camille Delean, by Attia Taylor
Words: Attia Taylor
With the lonely folk energy we crave from artists like Big Thief and Sharon Van Etten, Montreal-based songwriter and vocalist Camille Delean presents us with strikingly beautiful new music for our quarantined souls. The Canadian musician released a sparkling debut, Music On the Grey Mile, in 2017. A glossy and vocally effervescent breakthrough mirroring the vibes of Sugar Cubes and a young Björk. Her latest release, Cold House Burning, is a clear departure with remnants of home.
Cold House Burning is a singular collection of songs about navigating the typical challenges that make up the fabric of our lives. A test of survival skills in a different kind of wilderness. As a songwriter and performer, Delean has come into her own.
Read our interview with Camille below:
What’s your favorite self care practice?
Getting up early and immediately going outside, which is not a funny joke these days but it’s the truth. It solves the micro problems before you get to dwelling on them. Every day no matter what, except maybe a lockdown. Drinking your coffee beside a window and then dancing your way around your living space and knocking stuff over seems like the nearest indoor equivalent.
How does making music impact your health?
It defaults to ‘terribly’. Late nights, tour food, sitting in a van, or ignoring everything to write. And you can surrender to all that, but if it’s your project, you’re also kind of free to create your own culture. You can tweak small details that add up. Ultimately if you like music, and you get to spend your time making it and you remember your body in the process, then that’s about the healthiest thing I can think of. So really, choose your own adventure.
Who has taught you the most in life so far?
Yoko Ono’s twitter. I don’t have a twitter account, but every once in a while I go look at Yoko’s and compile all the ones I never want to forget in a file on my computer that I have backed up in two places.
What are your healthy living goals?
To never forget fresh air, even when it’s but a distant memory. But actually, I think the umbrella goal is to never stop moving. To find the ways of moving that make your life better, with breaks for a good sleep. But then you still move in your dreams. I could be wrong, but I can’t think of anything that’s alive that doesn’t move in some way or another, and usually it’s in weird ways only it can understand.
