Gabi Hartmann's unique artistic world blurs the lines between pop, folk, jazz, soul, and world music. She sings about what inspires her in several languages, defying categorization. She has successfully established her own distinctive style, as well as her ambiguous emotion: a voice with a warm, clear timbre, at once soft, melancholic, and soothing.
Her eponymous debut album, released in 2023, has been streamed over twenty million times and sold more than 15,000 copies (the best-selling Jazz/World album in France that year). It earned her the Gold Disk Award for Best New International Artist in Japan, as well as critical acclaim in the French and international press, and she has performed several sold-out shows (at the Francofolies de la Rochelle, La Seine Musicale, and La Cigale).
Today, Gabi returns with her second album titled *La femme aux yeux de sel* (The Woman with Salt Eyes). This album opens with a nursery rhyme that tells the story of a woman named Salinda, who lives on a dream island, her salt eyes melting with every tear shed. To heal her eyes, she embarks on a journey in search of the secrets of salt. Could the album be a small mirror of this tale? Gabi discovers and grows through the songs, learning about herself by questioning both the world around her and her inner world, as well as her life experiences as a woman. Above all, she recounts her emotions: the joy of her travels and the difficulty of opening up to others, the melancholy that stalks her, her anger at a sick world, suffering, anxiety, and then the wonder of nature that heals her.
She draws her inspiration from female artists: Salinda is inspired by the Rumba des îles from Marguerite Duras' film *India Song* (composed and arranged with Oan Kim). She pays tribute to Latin American music, particularly to female voices such as Mercedes Sosa, but also to the South African singer Miriam Makeba, who has inspired her for years.
Finally, this album is the result of both long-standing (Oan Kim and Jesse Harris) and new collaborations: the Syrian flutist Naïssam Jalal can be heard on the track "Le lever de Soleil" (The Sunrise), questioning the state of the world. This track, like "Love High" and "Ton monde secret" (Your Secret World), was composed and produced with saxophonist and composer Laurent Bardainne (who has collaborated with Camélia Jordana, Jeanne Added, and November Ultra).
The creation of Baptiste Trotignon can also be recognized, with whom she composed the track "Mélancolie," magnified by the emotion and elegance of the string arrangements by Brazilian composer Maycon Ananias.
With her latent melancholy and her world rich in colors and rhythms, Gabi gradually blurs the boundaries between eras and styles to create a dreamlike world all her own.
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