“He’s a perfectionist just like me”: Peggy Gou on working with Lenny Kravitz

Dance star Peggy Gou has shared her experiences working with one of rock’s modern greats, Lenny Kravitz, in a recent interview, saying that she felt “honoured”.

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Speaking to Zane Lowe as part of his The Zane Lowe Show Apple Music podcast series, the (It Goes Like) Nanana producer and singer recalls their recent – and unexpected – collaboration. The collab resulted in a new track, I Believe In Love Again, which is out now on XL Recordings.

“It was such an honour to get a chance to work with him,” she tells Lowe. “He’s very perfectionist just like me.”

In the interview, Peggy reveals that the collaboration was not a typical “modern” digital exchange but involved physical studio sessions in the Bahamas and Paris.

She goes on to say how Kravitz wanted to bring a “different DNA” to the track with an unexpected falsetto part, with Lowe and others agreeing they didn’t think it was sung by him at first, but by Peggy instead.

“Would you have guessed that it was Lenny if this was not written, Lenny?” She asks

Zane Lowe says, “Yes, I thought it was you. I thought it was you as well the first time.”

“I was like, ‘Really, Lenny? I don’t know if it’s a good thing, man. Seriously, I want people to know it’s you because it’s like I’m so honoured that my first collaboration song that I have a feature in the album is you.’

“He was like, ‘Pegs, we’re going to do a music video. People will know it’s me. Don’t worry.’ I was like, ‘That’s true, but,’ and he was like, ‘Girl, let me tell you something. I put different DNA to it when I sing this song.’”

Peggy also reflects on the simplicity and catchiness of ’90s music in the interview, highlighting what Lowe calls “sampling with optimism”.

“’90s music is timeless for me. I also love hip-hop and every song from that period.

Lowe says, “What I love about this song is when you come in with the, ‘Ch, ch, ch,’ it’s like no one uses upper register percussive instruments in songs anymore, but they were everywhere in the ’90s.”

“Also, if you think about it, ’90s music was simple. Although it is repetitive, I feel like it’s catchy and you don’t get bored of listening to it.

“It’s very true,” Lowe responds, “It’s almost like the drums were by design a blank canvas to write these songs over and it was like there’s a naivety to the way technology was working back then that people have mastered now. I love that you’ve captured that sense of optimism, sampling with optimism.”

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