Charlotte Cardin talks music, Canadian soft power and the success of her song ‘Feel Good’

0:13Hello and welcome to the Monaco Weekly. I am Fernando Augusto Pacheco, and in today's show, I speak with Canadian singer Charlotte Cardin from our studio in Paris, the city where she is based. We discuss her future music plans and also how her song Feel Good captured the airwaves this summer, even though it was released initially back in 2023. Here is Charlotte with more.

0:58Charlotte Cardin, welcome to Monaco Radio. I'm a big fan. So happy you're here. Thank you so much for having me. I'm happy to be here. And first question, Charlotte, I know you're from Canada, of course, but are you based in Paris? I'm still a little bit kind of doing some back and forths between Montreal and Paris. I grew up in Montreal and my whole family is still there. But I am mostly in Paris now, yes. It's a fantastic city to be, especially because you do have quite a close connection to the fashion industry. Of course, the music is your main career, but you do have a relationship with brands.

1:31So Paris is the perfect place to be. Well, Paris, honestly, on a cultural level, not only for fashion, for music, for food, for everything, for theater. Like it's just been so inspiring to live here. And even for my songwriting, for the experiences that I've been having ever since I've been living here, it's just been very, very enriching in a lot of ways. Like I just feel like I've grown a lot from even just kind of like taking a walk outside every morning and just absorbing all this beauty and amazing history that the city holds. But yes, I do love fashion and I always have. And I love being able to integrate it as well in my music decisions and kind of build my musical world, also integrating some fashion things to it.

2:21So obviously Paris for that is just super inspiring. Well, in talking about music, your song Feel Good, which I knew it from the release. But what's happening? It is the song of December 2025. It's so interesting in the music industry today how a song, you know, can have a new life, right? A new renewal of life. So tell us about it. Well, that's exactly what this is. I feel like Feel Good totally has had a completely new life in the last few months. So actually what's interesting about Feel Good is that I feel like ever since the first demo, it's had so many different lives because I first wrote that song all in English.

3:01And there was something about it that didn't quite stick. Like I loved the chorus, but there was something about the verses I didn't like as much. So I ended up not putting it on my initial album, 99 Nights. And once we put out the album, I kept going back to that chorus. And I felt like it had something that was really special. And I would play it for my friends. And they had this guilty pleasure attachment to it almost. And I felt the same way. And I was like, OK, how about we go back into the studio and we translate the verses and make a bilingual version of Feel Good. and make it mostly in French and see if that gives it maybe the edge that I felt it was missing, maybe the touch of originality I felt it didn't have back then.

3:45And so we translated it, but it had many, many versions before we figured out this current version that we know. And we ended up putting it on the re-edition of the album, so like the deluxe version of my 99 Nights album. and it kind of it was a song that is obviously very um light-hearted and felt very good when we played it live and it was just this like very light song and it and I kind of needed that in my I think in the discography of that album but it didn't it kind of went a little bit under the radar like a few radios picked it up and it had a tiny little bit of traction but like really not that much.

4:25And about a year and a half after the release of Feel Good, I performed the song on a show called Star Academy here. So it's like a, it's kind of like The Voice. It's like a singing competition. And so they invited me to sing my song with one of the contestants. And from there, it just kind of snowballed into a huge TikTok moments. In the following days, thousands of videos on TikTok were using my song Feel Good. And then a few days or weeks after that, all the biggest radios in France really started playing it like massively. And so it really... You're literally on the top 10 of the French charts.

5:02Yeah. And it's been in the top 10 for the past few months. Like it's just kind of staying up there, which is such a big surprise and a lovely surprise in my life because the music industry now goes so fast. There are tens of thousands of songs that are put out every single day on platforms. And so you kind of expect music to have a much shorter life expectancy. And so to see my song kind of blow up almost two years after its release is just really encouraging and kind of super exciting for the future.

5:43And I think TikTok obviously has some disadvantages. But for that, I think it's special because it can actually help songs that came out years ago have a moment. Like I think of that Fleetwood Mac song that's been completely discovered by a new generation. Obviously, it always stayed a classic. But you think of Kate Bush, who is now super popular among Gen Zs and all of that. And that's because TikTok has that power to kind of just show songs to a lot, a lot of people. And so that's kind of what happened with Feel Good. And in a way, you leave it in the hands of the fans as well. Is it true the case?

6:21So, for example, I've been reading that, you know, before the label said you need to release this as a single. It was everything was pre-planned. But now when you release a new album, it's kind of the fans will pick the favorite and it will become the kind of the organic single, right? Yeah. And I think that's really interesting. And that's also, you know, the fans are really sensitive and smart and they're obviously the best way of knowing, you know, what music converts. But now that they have the power on social media, they kind of get that power back, which is which is really interesting and nice.

6:56And so a lot of artists will select singles with their labels and their close circle and then put out the album and be like, oh, wait, actually, the one that I thought wasn't a single is now the single because the fans are directly showing me that that's the one they love. And so that is a really interesting, I think, quality of this era in music. And this song, I think for me, at least, hit the spot. I think 2025 has been proven to be quite a tough year, you know, geopolitics wise. It's quite stressful. And I think a song like this, you know, it just hit the spot as well. That's my theory. Well, thank you.

7:31I mean, I think I agree. I think there's, you always need a context for music and art in general to really reach people. And so when I put out the song, it probably just wasn't the right context. People weren't ready to relate to it in the way that I maybe meant for it to when I put it out. And I think that's beautiful because art, you need a context for it. And what's funny about this specific song is that I had been invited on the exact same show, Star Academy, the previous year to sing the same song. And nothing really happened with the performance. And it had come out maybe six months prior.

8:14And so it was much more fresh. And it just kind of went under the radar. And now that second time around, same show, I sang it with a contestant this time, which was a little bit different. But still, that's when it just snowballed into this big thing. So, yeah. It was meant to be. It was meant to be. And before we talk a little bit more about music, I need to ask you, I saw you at the, well, I didn't see you. I see pictures of you at the G7 Summit. Yes. That's quite exciting, you know, talking about geopolitics. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, it was quite an honor. I got a request from Mark Carney, our Canadian prime minister's team, and asking if I would perform at the G7 summit.

8:55It was in a very, very intimate context, so no media. And it was kind of the celebration that the leaders would have at the end of the second day of their reunions. reunions. And at first I kind of, I really had to think about it just because I obviously, I wasn't comfortable with everyone that was going to be there. And I was just thinking, oh, like, is this the right thing to do? And then I thought about it a little bit more and I just thought, you know what, I feel like affirming how beautiful and rich Canadian culture is more important than ever. Like some people are trying to annex us right now.

9:32And, you know, I felt like Like I wanted to represent my country and I wanted to be there for Canada and represent that artistic side of our culture. And I was really proud to be there. And it actually ended up being a very lovely moment. Trump actually left before the performance. So he was the one, the only one who was there. He was not feeling good. He was not feeling good about it. But I ended up performing for the six other leaders. And it was a moment I'll never forget. It was quite a surreal crowd, let me tell you. And they were kind of just sitting right in front of the stage. Like it was, yeah, a very surreal moment in my career.

10:13I like what you're saying about representing Brand Canada because, you know, especially with Mark Carney, as you said, you know, there's been quite a difficult relationship between the U.S. and Canada. Yeah. I think Canada is doing good things for the world. I think maybe other countries will look out for it for some inspiration, perhaps. Yeah, I mean, I feel like Canada's always been a country with very, you know, open values. You know, we're very welcoming, warm people. We're a peaceful country. And I love that about Canada. And I felt like especially in times where things are so tense, things have been so horrible, horrible things have been going on in the world.

10:54I felt like this G7 summit was particularly important, like really, really important things were being discussed. And obviously, I don't I don't pretend like music, you know, changes the world in that in that regard. But I do feel like sometimes it can reach people's hearts in a way that gives them a little, you know, moment of openness, hopefully. And that's what I was hoping with that performance as well. You really can. Of course, this is the summer of Feel Good, as I said. But for the fans here, I know you'll be performing here in Paris and there'll be a bigger tour next year. Are you working on a new album?

11:28What can you tell us about it? I am working on new music right now. I saw a picture of you in the studio on Instagram. That's why I'm asking. I've been in the studio almost every single day for the past few months Working on new music I'm so excited to put out new stuff Obviously Feel Good is still having its moment in France It's still going strong on the radio But I'm excited to present a new chapter soon-ish I'm not sure when exactly But we're definitely working on a bunch of new songs Before the tour perhaps? Yes, I would love to at least put out a couple songs before the tour But I don't have precise dates yet But I just know that I've been working a lot on new music and I'm really excited about it.

12:07So I'm excited to share it soon. And for the summer, do you go back to Canada quite often? Do you have a specific place where you like to spend your summers? So this summer I'm actually playing a few festivals in Canada. So not only Quebec, but I'm playing at the Calgary Stampede. So that's going to be interesting. I've never played there before. So I'm doing a few backs and forths between Paris and Canada this summer. And then I'm spending the whole month of August in Greece, just taking like a full vacation. I don't think I've ever taken a month off in my life. So it's going to be so relaxing.

12:45Time is luxury these days. We've been talking a lot here at Monaco about this. It's really important. Yeah. And I think it's going to be both my partner and I have had like really intense years. and we're both artists, so we've been touring a lot. You sang together last year as well, right? We did, yeah, yeah, yeah. We put out a song together called Ensemble. So it's just going to be nice to kind of, you know, sit in a real moment together and be able to catch up on a lot of things that we actually missed out on this year because we were both all over the place. Amazing. Charlotte, merci. Thank you so much for coming here.

13:18Merci beaucoup.

13:42Thank you, Charlotte, and I can't wait for new music. And for now, we enjoy her latest album, 99 Nights, which includes the song Feel Good, of course. The show was edited by Lily Austin, and I am Fernando Augusto Pacheco.