RFI Musique: Juliette, your fifth album, "Assassins sans couteaux", appears much more 'you' than your last album. Why do you think this is?
Juliette: Well, I really didn't want to get stuck in one genre, you know, just turning out the same old thing all the time. So on the new album, "Assassins sans couteaux", I decided to mess around and have a bit of fun with the songs. Which I guess, in a way, is closer to my real personality. As I get older my tastes in books and music have started to change a bit, so the new album reflects that too. I really wanted to move on from the themes of my last album, which was caught up in a lot of post-romantic, self-indulgent notions like 'What does it mean to be beautiful? What does it mean to be ugly?' and so on. Basically, on my last album I was very preoccupied with the whole idea of appearance. And that meant the album was a bit on the heavy side - which is all right really, as it meant I could assert myself as a serious singer! Before I was always being pigeon-holed as this funny woman who told jokes on stage. Well, I can tell you that after "Rimes féminines" came out, people soon stopped falling around laughing at me! This time round, I've changed my image again and I suppose my new album is a way of reaching out to a new audience.

Is that why you've chosen to work with a whole new bunch of songwriters?
It's true that as far as the lyrics on the new album go, I did want to branch out in a different direction. To start with I teamed up with songwriter Bernard Joyet (who sings with 'Joyet et Roll Mops'). Bernard's an old friend of mine and he's got a wicked sense of humour. Then I went on to work with Franck Giroud, a young writer who's known for his comic strips. One night, at the end of one of my concerts, Franck came up to me and said he'd written a couple of songs he'd like me to try out. So we began working together after that. We had to spend a bit of time rewriting his original lyrics though, as Franck's not a musician. As I sing and write music, I had a very clear idea of what I wanted.

So, for the time being, you've stopped working with your former songwriting partner Pierre Philippe?
Yes. But that's because I hate the idea of doing the same thing twice! The way I see it, either you've got the grace to do a thing properly and you set out to make a really good album, or you end up droning on and doing exactly the same thing as you did last time round. So yes, it was a very deliberate choice not to work with Pierre Philippe on my new album. He agreed it was time for me to move on, too. I really didn't want to do another album like the last one, "Rimes féminines" - which I feel is a bit like someone else's trip really. So, yes, for the time being, Pierre and I are taking a break from one another.

Musically speaking as well, you seem to want to move in a totally different direction on your new album. Certain songs have a distinct blues feel to them, don't they?
I guess there are a couple of songs on the album, which feel a bit bluesy. "Lucy", for example - that song's got a bit of a 50's 'jungle' feel to it really, because when I first read Bernard Joyet's lyrics they made me think of Walt Disney films like the "Jungle Book". I work a lot like that. Film images flash into my mind all the time. But I don't think there's that much genuine blues on the new album. "C'est l'hiver", for example, has got a very different feel. It starts off with a few notes on the Portuguese guitar and then this bossa nova style rhythm comes in as a kind of counterbalance. The way I work is, I wait for the writer to give me the lyrics, then I get to work on the music. I know a lot of my songwriters would actually prefer to work the other way round. If I wrote the music first then they could write their lyrics around the melody. But, unfortunately, hard luck, that's just not the way I work !

Rumour has it that you asked author Amélie Nothomb - who has written a whole series of books including the famous "L'hygiène de l'assassin" - to write a couple of songs for your new album?
Yes, it's true, I did get in touch with Amélie and ask her to write some lyrics for the new album. What I like about Amélie's writing is that it's got this really crazy side to it and she's also got this really wicked sense of humour. And then her books deal with all those things which you get in decadent late 19th-century literature - she writes about beauty and brings up all that stuff about the ambiguity of feeling, disturbing emotions and so on. When Pierre Philippe and I were writing songs about beauty, ugliness and the nature of appearance and all that, we got a lot of inspiration from Amélie's work. But when I approached Amélie and asked her to write songs herself, she refused, saying she didn't feel she was capable of transposing her themes into songs. I tried to persuade her, but it was no good. Her mind was made up!

One of the songs on your new album - "J'me tâche" ("I Get Food All Over My Clothes") - sounds a lot like Boris Vian's "J'suis snob" …
Yes, it's true. The song's got close links with Boris Vian and the 50's jazz scene. In fact, you could say "J'me tâche" is a direct descendent of "Blouse du dentiste" by Henri Cording (Ed. - the pseudonym used by singer Henri Salvador). What happened was, I asked Francois Raubert - who was in charge of all the musical arrangements on my new album - to give the song a real 50's jazz feel, like the work of Count Basie.

Let me just ask you something about the song's title. Do you really get food all over yourself when you eat out in restaurants?
Yes, the whole thing's a true story! I actually commissioned Bernard Joyet to write the song for me. What triggered the whole thing off was I was having dinner with the classical pianist Alexandre Tharaud one night. And, as usual, I ended up dropping half the food on my plate down my T-shirt ... Anyway I started moaning and groaning and falling over myself to apologise for my bad table manners. And Alexandre - I'll never be able to thank him enough for it - just turned round and said 'well, why don't you write a song about it instead of complaining about your eating habits?' And that's exactly what I got Bernard to do - Alexandre's suggestion certainly didn't fall on deaf ears!

Now, tell me about "Francisco Alegre", the song you sing in Spanish …
Oh I had real fun with that. And it's interesting, singing in another language means you learn how to use your voice in a completely different way. I enjoy that, it makes me feel like I'm constantly learning new things and making progress with my singing. Anyway, what happened was, one evening I invited this flamenco guitarist, Salvador Paterna, to perform with me. I was just messing around, you know, and I ended up singing this song in Spanish - in fact, the only Spanish song I know all the words to. It's a torero's 'paso doble' called "Francisco Alegre", a song from the 50's, which is usually performed with the backing of a full orchestra. Anyway, performing it solo with a guitar gave the lyrics a totally different feel. It's a pure joy to perform it, I can tell you, I really get into the music!

Do you feel that you're more of a musician than a singer?
Believe me, I would be absolutely delighted if I could just do the music side of things. I've always said that singing really gets on my nerves! OK, I guess I'm exaggerating a bit here, but then that's the way I am. Basically, yes, I'd love to go out and make records with a full symphony orchestra. Singing really isn't my favourite mode of expression. Let's face it, if I could go out and step into Jean-Michel Jarre's shoes one day I would - I wouldn't hesitate for a moment! But the day I get really bored with singing, I'll stop - it's like the lyrics of the Jacques Brel song, when he sings "le jour ou l'on triche, il faut arrêter" ("the day you start cheating, is the day you should stop"). It's no great mystery, the singers I've always listened to and always respected are Jacques Brel, Georges Brassens, Barbara and Edith Piaf. Apart from that, I'm pretty much like everyone else - every summer I go out and buy the 'big smash hit' everyone's talking about!

I believe you're planning to perform a major concert soon where your entire set will be made up of cover versions. Is that right?
Yes, that's right. The concert's planned for the end of next year and the idea is that I'm going to perform my own version of a whole string of famous hits. In fact, I'm busy drawing up a list of my favourite songs right now. Of course, everyone's expecting me to get up on stage and belt out the old 'chanson réaliste' - OK, I'm going to do one or two, but anyone who's expecting me to do an entire concert of 'chanson réaliste' is going to be severely disappointed! Do you want a bit of a sneak preview of my list? OK, I'm going to cover songs by Julien Clerc, Alain Souchon, Nougaro, Gotainer, Gainsbourg and Nilda Fernandez - I just love his old hit "Madrid, Madrid". There, you see, there's not one bit of 40's 'chanson' in there at all! Oh, and there'll also be a bit of Boby Lapointe - he's one of my all-time favourite singers!

So you're breaking away from your 'chanson populaire' references and moving on to other things?
No, not at all. But what annoys me is that people start pigeon-holing you into a category - 'oh, Juliette's going to do a concert of cover versions, that must mean she's going to be doing a 30's revival". I mean, yes, I'll obviously perform a couple of numbers by Damia or Piaf, but there's going to be more to the show than 30's and 40's nostalgia! You know, I'd like to sing a couple of songs in Spanish as well. I'm thinking of doing a tango - not necessarily Carlos Gardel's tango either! I've already got a couple of tangos in my repertoire, in fact - "L'amour en pointillé" and "Berceuse pour Carlitos" - which were both written by Pierre Philippe. They're divine songs, both of them, very refined!

And are you planning to do your usual comic-style delivery on stage?
I think this time round I'm going to be silly rather than funny - it's closer to my real personality in any case. I'll leave funny to real comedians like Lagaffe. What's important is that I always agree - at least 99 % of the time - with what I'm doing on stage. I don't have to contort myself into any fake stage personality. The way I see it is, if I'm comfortable with how I am on stage then the audience are going to feel that and respond. In other words, I guess what I'm trying to say is that getting up on stage and performing is never a huge act of torture for me!

Since you launched your career in 1985, have you ever felt that you were 'exceptional'?
Well, it might seem a bit pretentious to say this, but I'll say it anyway! If you want to get on in this business you need more than a great voice, you need more than a great song and you need more than great music. But I'm lucky, I've got all of that! … (at which point Juliette laughs heartily) … No, seriously now, I'm lucky to work with a very good group of musicians and songwriters. And I've also got a built-in sense of survival, or an awful lot of patience - call it what you like! Basically, I've got two major things in my favour - I'm not in any great hurry and I know how to swallow my pride. I've always said that my time will come, and I do truly believe that! I really love my profession and as long as I can keep on doing what I'm doing - whether that means doing a huge show at the Olympia or in some obscure venue in the back of beyond! - then I'm happy. As to the future, well, you just don't know what's going to happen, but I've got a pretty thick skin - I'll be able to deal with it. There's no point in getting all worked up about things - it's just singing, for God's sake!