Photography by Danica Robinson

“I just want people to feel something, whether that’s sadness or wanting to shake your ass a little bit,” Lolo Zouaï says of her third studio album Reverie. Written in the aftermath of losing her best friend, it’s a project rooted in grief but one that refuses to be defined by it, drifting between haunting introspection and flashes of sun-soaked escapism (see: the inevitable gay favourite ‘Lemon Squeeze’). “It’s the kind of album you put on and get completely lost in thought,” she tells Gay Times. “Or sit in the back of a car at night, looking out the window. It’s a car album.”

Since releasing her debut single in 2016, Zouaï has fused her French background with the sounds and attitude of the West Coast, resulting in over 600 million streams, collaborations with Nike, Dior, Chanel and YSL, and supporting Dua Lipa on tour. Her songwriting credits stretch beyond her own catalogue too, including NewJeans’ dance banger ‘Right Now’ and H.E.R.’s self-titled Grammy-winning album. Along the way, she’s also built a fiercely loyal LGBTQIA+ fanbase – “If you have the girls and the gays [as fans], you’re set up for stardom,” she says. “I mean, that’s who the stans are!”

Here, Zouaï opens up about turning grief into Reverie, finding freedom in going independent and why she’s stopped chasing outside pressures in favour of something more honest. “Once there’s this expectation, it’s impossible to meet it,” she says. “So I’m just doing it at my own pace and trusting the music more.”

Lolo, this album… I’m obsessed with ‘Lemon Squeeze’ and – I’m very sorry for my pronunciation of this – ‘Toute seule à la plage’. 

Hey, you did a good job! That's my Basanova, 60s, French vibe.