again from scratch,”) she breathes in this featherweight song, where some lines resemble a haiku. “Est-ce que les parents tristes / Font des enfants tristes?” (“Do sad parents/Have sad children?”) the Valais native sings. Cyrielle Formaz lives in Sion, having spent two years studying art in Brussels. She says she loves the “old country”, by which name Valais is also known, because it offers both living artists and mountains, where she enjoys hiking and climbing. The artist cites Ramuz and Corinna Bille, for the role nature plays in our lives. For music, she mentions Laurence Revey, a Valais musician who showed her that you can make music in Valais. Meimuna? The name comes from an Asian cicada that can spend up to 25 years buried in the ground as a larva before emerging and dying within a single day. One song in her first album stands out: “Ève V. (battre des records)” (“Ève V. (beat records)”) dedicated to the late French singer, dancer and actress Lolo Ferrari, whose voice is heard on the track. Ferrari, whose real name was Ève Vallois, rose to fame by allowing her chest and its enormous implants to become her brand. “Tu veux tromper la mort / Trouver du réconfort / Changer de nom, de corps / Battre des records”, (“You want to cheat death/Find solace/Change your name, change your body/Beat records,”) sings Meimuna, like a funeral dirge that soothes the deceased woman. Valais is also a region where words can be stifled by silence. “I grew up in Orsières and I suffered from the lack of scope to express myself. People didn’t put their emotions into words. That’s not just Valais, though; it’s rural areas in general,” the artist concludes. . STÉPHANE HERZOG www.meimuna.ch www.youtube.com/MEIMUNAOfficial Photo: Marius Mattioni Photo: Marius Mattioni Swiss Review / April 2025 / No.2
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