Asked to sum up her new album, Universelle, Sapho pauses for reflection and then announces that "'Universelle' is basically me twisting and turning around myself like a spiral staircase! Things I've expressed or explored in the past are definitely there, but it's not as if I'm expressing or exploring them anew. If you listen carefully, you can just about hear them between the lines."

Universelle might equally well have been called "The Many Faces of Sapho", displaying as it does the multi-faceted nature of the singer's kaleidoscopic personality. Listeners are treated to appearances from Sapho the Moroccan, Sapho the Oriental diva, Sapho 'la Parisienne', Sapho from New York, Sapho the passionate flamenco fan and Sapho the world music pioneer. However, far from being a simple catalogue of musical influences and artistic inspirations, Universelle is essentially a sort of reconciliation, an album which brings Sapho face to face with herself.

"This album is basically about me reviving my rock past," the singer explains, "a past I'd more or less put on hold in recent years. After my tribute shows to Oum Khalsoum* and Léo Ferré, I was wondering how I could go back to doing something a bit more contemporary. I'd gone through my electronic period, then totally rejected drums in my work. 'Universelle' is about me venturing back into rock territory again, but without abandoning my fusion side. All the different musical styles I've explored over the years have remained deeply imprinted on my memory."

Universelle revolves around Sapho's own personal take on Paris, the Middle East and the U.S., exploring her future and her past with an infinite number of musical nuances. Not wishing to offend the volatile star, we refrain from telling Sapho that we find her altogether more reasonable on her latest album, which flows smoothly through from beginning to end without a hint of erratic behaviour or the slightest mood swing. Interestingly enough, Sapho emphasises the collective effort that went into the making of her new album, insisting that "What counted first and foremost was the unity of the group. I got to work with an incredible rhythm section on this album, a bunch of powerful, cutting-edge musicians, who gave me a solid foundation on which to construct my personal moments of madness."

Sapho had actually composed most of the material for Universelle four years before going into the studio and she had tried out various musicians and collaborators in the process. The singer ended up calling in Brigitte Fontaine's musical and real-life partner Areski Belkacem to work on arrangements for several songs. Sapho went on to perform at the "Voix de la Méditerranée" festival in Lodève and, on this occasion, worked with three of her habitual musicians (guitarists Simon Bendahan and Vicente Almaraz and the violinist Safouane Kennani) as well as Areski and three musicians he brought on board (bassist Bobby Jocky, drummer Patrick Baudin and keyboard-player Dondieu Divin). "The musicians all had a lot of fun and respected each other a great deal, but I felt there was still something missing. I needed something a bit more crazy and irrational at some point - and that's where Yan Péchin came in. I'd already seen Yan playing with Alain Bashung and I knew he was the right man for the job!" The guitarist certainly brought the desired touch of craziness, adding thunderous guitar riffs and electric vibrations that recall the best of Sapho in her previous incarnation as a rock chick (circa Janis, Paris stupide and Barbarie).

However, if Sapho feels particularly happy with Universelle it is because she knows that this new album is totally representative of who she is now. "I can proudly stand up and assert that this album is mine down to the very last note," she says, "I can honestly say I followed things through from the beginning to the end on this one. What happened on previous albums was that there was always someone who had some authority over me, telling me 'We're going to do things this way or that." But on 'Universelle' I didn't have to put any kind of lid on my desires. I'm responsible for everything down to the tiniest note!"

Sapho was also responsible for the innovative cross-cultural mix and musical fusion ideas she experiments with on Universelle. "On 'Fred As Tair'," she explains, "I decided to include a viola da gamba and an Arab violin because otherwise the piano would have sounded nice, but it would ultimately have been a bit of a piano-bar cliché. I asked everyone involved to work on their tuning and experiment with different ways of bringing a baroque instrument like the viola da gamba and the Arab violin together, but basically try and remain themselves. I really enjoyed working as the orchestra conductor and finding a way of making the viola da gamba, the Oriental violin and jazz piano work together."

Given the ongoing economic downturn in the record industry, Sapho knew she would have to rely on herself to come up with the budget for recording her new album. However, she was not expecting to take over at the studio controls when the producer she had been intending to work with walked out after two days, having been scared off by the sheer scale and originality of the material she wanted to record. Sapho ended up co-producing Universelle with Sébastien Miglianico, originally hired on the project as a sound engineer. The singer appears to have emerged from the studio unshaken and unscathed, simply remarking that "It was good to be back in the driving seat again!" 

Sapho is now preparing to take the colourful portrait gallery of songs from her new album out on the road. She plans to kick things off with a short run at Le Café de la Danse, in Paris (18, 19 & 20 December), then embark upon an extensive tour. In the meantime, the multi-talented performer hopes that her latest recording comeback will not stop her from completing the novel she put on hold to work on Universelle.

*Sapho toured El Atlal, her tribute show to the legendary Egyptian diva, between 1992 and 1995