In an exciting shift for her artistry, Chiara Foschiani teases her upcoming album with the single “It’s Such A Dream”. This track marks a bold exploration of introspective alternative pop, featuring a dark and psychedelic electro-pop ambience. Through her music, Chiara dives deep into themes of addiction, the anxieties tied to bipolarity, and the fears associated with creative blocks, all resonating with a generation grappling with mental health.
“It’s Such A Dream” signifies a pivotal moment in Chiara’s career, heralding her transition towards darker, more radical pop sounds, following the release of three earlier singles in 2024. With its blend of sincerity and audacity, this new track is poised to solidify her status as an emerging voice in the alternative music scene.
We had the chance to catch up with Chiara as she continues to carve her niche in the alternative pop landscape, fusing personal narratives with daring sonic choices.
KALTBLUT: Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your new single “It’s Such A Dream”?
With this song, I wanted to be more open about my anxieties and the ways I deal with them, especially since I’ve sometimes felt like I was even worse off with them and they’ve affected my creativity.
KALTBLUT: How does “It’s Such A Dream” fit into the overall theme of your upcoming album, ‘Hope Will Make it Happen’?
I guess this album is a bit of a reflection of the last two years I’ve been through. It’s a toxic and painful love story that echoes a long mental health journey and the discovery of my bipolar disorder, with all the challenges that brings. It’s an up-and-down album. ‘It’s Such a Dream’ is the darker side of these phases.
KALTBLUT: You’ve described the track as having a “dark and light” element. How did you achieve this balance in your music?
I’ve always liked to play with contrasts in my music, because there’s nothing linear about life, is there? I like to create surprises, breaks that sometimes give the impression that there are two pieces in one. On It’s Such A Dream, my co-composers Edgar Michaud and Alexandre Koneski and I were trying to create an impression of floating, something a bit psychedelic that really represents the feeling of losing your bearings when you’re going through a depressive episode, you know, like you’re in a strange, unreal dream, with no grip on reality. The light comes from this almost dreamlike quality in the vocals during the chorus.
KALTBLUT: Collaborating with Edgar Michaud and Alexandre Koneski for this single, what was that creative process like for you?
I usually come with a demo, and we work on the theme together. They often come to me with suggestions, and I tell them about my influences. We work from there, and I tell them a lot about my life and what I was going through. I’m lucky enough to work with very caring, respectful and patient guys. There’s a real synergy, especially as this is the second project I’ve worked on with Edgar since we started working together on The Forgotten Color. Alexandre had already played his guitar on a few tracks, but for this album he wanted to get more involved. He also plays bass, guitar and machines with me on stage, and he’s even been my CAM teacher! Everyone who works with me already knows each other. We’ve worked together before, on stage and in projects, so it’s very easy and natural working with everyone.
KALTBLUT: You mentioned that the single explores mental health concerns. How important is it for you to speak to your generation through your music on topics like these?
Mental health is something we musicians, especially women, really talk about a lot. We often chat about it in podcasts and at networking events My generation is fed up with the patriarchy and misogynistic attitudes, which even some women have. This is really common in the music industry, but not just there. People are fed up with sexual harassment in general. I find it hard to grow up as a woman in this society because you want to express your femininity as you choose and not have to put up with the inappropriate reactions of some people. You don’t have to express your femininity for other people. You do it for yourself first, and music is a great way of doing that. It’s so important to talk about mental health in our generation, because you never know who you’re going to help. If someone feels less alone or more understood after listening to me, then I’ll have done my job. There are certain artists who have had this effect on me, whether they be musicians, writers or painters, and art is also essential for understanding and accepting oneself.
KALTBLUT: The visual identity for “It’s Such A Dream” is very striking. What message are you hoping to convey through the artwork created by Miles Hilderal?
The cover was actually Miles’ idea, as he thought the single had a bit of a Kanye West sound to it, though it’s not the best reference at the moment. Anyway, it led to him remembering Pusha T’s ‘Daytona’ cover, which was a photo of the hotel bathroom where Whitney Houston overdosed. West bought the photo for $80,000, if I remember rightly, to illustrate the album. It’s not the best reference I guess, but it was the original idea, especially since my song is about medicine addiction too. So we looked for somewhere to shoot the cover and ended up in my granny’s bathroom! In the end, the photo, which was taken on damaged film (Miles’s speciality), is as dark as I wanted it to be and contrasts with the previous one for Me Myself & I, which was very bright. It still fits with the Up C Down theme of the album.
KALTBLUT: How do you feel your sound has evolved since your previous singles, and what does this signify for your musical journey?
This is my third project. I wrote my first one when I was 15, so I hadn’t lived much yet. I was telling more fantasised stories than real ones, except with the track “Trouble Maker”, which is the one that could come closest to what I’m doing now in terms of subject matter. The further I go, the more I experiment, the more I tend towards alternative pop. I don’t like labels though, because they’re too simple. My music is based on a specific time in my life, and I like sounds that are memorable but still complex. I love Kate Bush, for example, because she’s experimental but also authentic, and that’s how she’s reached so many people.
KALTBLUT: With “It’s Such A Dream” being your fourth single leading up to your album release, how would you compare it to your earlier singles?
It’s probably the strangest track on the album, and it wasn’t intended to be a single, but we chose it because it’s a bit weird. I’m changing my artistic direction with this album, I realise that people who’ve known me since I was 15 might be a bit surprised by this change. For this record, we’ve used a lot of super-saturated sounds, and they’re a bit more aggressive than what we did on my last EP. “Rerun” and “Outta My Mind” (which I co-wrote with Yann Payet) are a bit different to my previous stuff, but that’s exactly what I was going for. They’re a reflection of where I’m at right now.
KALTBLUT: Can you share any specific moments during the making of this single that felt particularly significant or transformative for you as an artist?
I don’t know if there’s one particular moment, but the whole writing process was intense. It’s all about revisiting painful past experiences and getting into a certain headspace to share your emotions as accurately as possible when you’re recording. There were a lot of tears during the making of this album. Writing is a kind of therapy for me, though it can be a painful process to get to the point where I feel I’m moving on to something else.
KALTBLUT: What do you hope listeners take away from “It’s Such A Dream”?
I’d like people to listen to my words and know they’re not alone if they’re going through emotions like mine. Other people’s words can sometimes heal what ails us inside, and that’s all I hope for in the end.
KALTBLUT: What’s coming up next for you?
After going through a tough time with my mental health recently, we’ve decided to delay the release of the album a bit, and I’m planning to drop one or two more singles in the next few months. I hope that people who like my music will be excited about this new album and that a lot more people will discover it, not just in France, but also in Germany. I’m counting on you to help make that happen!
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Photos by @miaskick
It’s Such A Dream is out now: https://bfan.link/it-s-such-a-dream
