Vanessa Daou Finally Talks About Love On Eq8r Album

LOVE IS IN THE AIR: Throughout the '90s, the husband/wife musical partnership of Peter & Vanessa Daou seamlessly merged elements of pop, jazz, and electronica to create some of the most intoxicating, exhilarating, and seductive soundscapes for dancefloors, lounges, and bedrooms.

Card-carrying members of the club community surely remember the Daou's genre-defying debut, 1992's Head Music (Columbia), and its single "Surrender Yourself," which topped the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. Such subsequent singles as "Give Myself to You" and "Are You Satisfied?," both on Tribal, proved the Daou was on a serious mission: to rethink the parameters of contemporary rhythm-based music.

Two years later, singer/songwriter Vanessa stepped out as a solo artist—of course, with producer/keyboardist Peter by her side. The artist's two albums for Lotus/Krasnow Entertainment/MCA, the sexual Zipless and the introspective Slow to Burn, respectively spawned the No. 1 Club Play hits "Sunday Afternoons" and "Two to Tango."

In the late '90s, the songstress released Plutonium Glow (on the Internet-based label Daou Music) and Dear John Coltrane (on Oxygen Music Works). Last November, EMI Music France issued Vanessa Daou's Make You Love—easily the artist's most honest, pop-leaning, and (dare we say) best collection to date.

Tracks like "You," "Juliette," "Bittersweet," and a cover of Jane's Addiction's "I Would for You" are pure bliss. Ditto for "Show Me" and "A Little Bit of Pain," which were featured, respectively, on an episode of Dawson's Creek and the Lifetime TV movie Sex, Lies & Obsession.

On Tuesday (3), Make You Love arrives in the U.S. via the Daou's Caroline-distributed EQ8R Music. The set's first single, the sublime "A Little Bit of Pain (II)," with remixes by Danny Tenaglia, should be in stores by late summer. During a recent conversation, the couple talked excitedly about Make You Love, their French connection, and the future.



How did the deal with EMI France occur?

Vanessa: About two years ago, [French singer] Étienne Daho e-mailed us out of the blue, telling us how much he liked our music, how he had all my albums in his collection. This led to many phone conversations and e-mails. At the time, we were both working on our own projects. He asked me if I would duet with him on a track for his album [a cover version of Vanessa's "Make Believe" from Plutonium Glow]. Overcoming my fear of flying, I, along with Peter, flew to France, and as we were recording the song, the three of us developed this great friendship.

Did Daho help in securing your label deal in France?

Peter: In a way, yes. When Étienne's