''Privacy'' is the second studio album by French singer, songwriter, and model
Ophélie Winter
Ophélie Kleerekoper-Winter (born 20 February 1974) is a French pop and R&B singer, songwriter, model and actress. The daughter of Dutch singer, David Alexandre Winter and French fashion model, Catherine Fefeu. She rose to prominence in much ...
. It was released on 28 August 1998 and was recorded from 1997 through to early 1998, enlisting various producers and songwriters worldwide such as
Soulshock & Karlin
Soulshock & Karlin is a duo of Danish record producers and songwriters, Carsten Schack and Kenneth Karlin. They have produced many successful songs, including Monica's "Before You Walk out of My Life", Whitney Houston's "Heartbreak Hotel", JoJo' ...
, Guy Roche, Rick Mitra,
Shelly Peiken
Shelly Meg Peiken is an American songwriter who is best known for co-writing the US No. 1 hits " What a Girl Wants" and " Come On Over Baby" by Christina Aguilera the US No. 2 hit "Bitch" by Meredith Brooks, "Almost Doesn't Count" by Brandy, and ...
,
Anders Bagge
Sven Anders Bagge (; born 16 January 1968) is a Swedish composer, lyricist, musician and record producer and partner with Peer Åström. The two songwriters / producers are known as Bagge & Peer. Bagge is also one of jury members for the TV4 sin ...
, and
Shana Morrison
Shana Caledonia Morrison (born April 7, 1970) is an Irish-American singer-songwriter and the daughter of Northern Irish singer-songwriter, Van Morrison, and his ex-wife, Janet Rigsbee Minto.
Early life
Morrison grew up in Marin County, Californ ...
.
''Privacy'' encompasses Pop Rock, R&B, retro and contemporary pop.
The album marked a drastic sound change from her previous effort, ''
No Soucy !
''No Soucy !'' is the first studio album of French singer Ophélie Winter
Ophélie Kleerekoper-Winter (born 20 February 1974) is a French pop and R&B singer, songwriter, model and actress. The daughter of Dutch singer, David Alexandre Winte ...
'', as she departed from her earlier
New Jack Swing
New jack swing, new jack, or swingbeat is a fusion genre of the rhythms and production techniques of hip hop and dance-pop, and the urban contemporary sound of R&B. Spearheaded by producers Teddy Riley and Bernard Belle, new jack swing was mos ...
style, which was her signature style, to a more polished Pop and Funk sound.
Winter chose more personal and mature songs on the album that dealt with the themes of being in the public eye, relationships, love, women empowerment, and sexual abuse.
Upon the release, the album was critically panned by critics and considered a
sophomore slump
A sophomore slump or sophomore jinx or sophomore jitters refers to an instance in which a second, or sophomore, effort fails to live up to the relatively high standards of the first effort.
It is commonly used to refer to the apathy of student ...
compared to her previous effort.
Background
Following the release of her successful debut album, ''
No Soucy !'', in 1996 as a result of hosting on variety shows such as
M6, Dance Machine 4, and
Hit Machine earlier in her career.
This essentially catapulted her into more avenues of the limelight, she starred and appeared in numerous French films, most notably, ''Folle D'elle'', ''
Hommes, femmes, mode d'emploi
''Men, Women: A User's Manual'' (french: Hommes, femmes, mode d'emploi) is a 1996 French film directed by Claude Lelouch.
Cast
* Fabrice Luchini - Fabio Lini
* Bernard Tapie - Benoit Blanc
* Alessandra Martines - Doctor Nitez
* Pierre Arditi - L ...
'', and ''
Tout doit disparaître
Everything Must Disappear ( French: Tout doit disparaître) is a 1997 French comedy film directed by Philippe Muyl.
Plot
Robert Millard has based his industrial kingdom - based on all the noise technologies - thanks to his marriage with the wea ...
''.
Production
The album was recorded from 1997 through early 1998 and was recorded in France, Sweden, England as well as the United States.
Release and promotion
''Privacy ''was released on August 28, 1998 as a CD and Vinyl. Winter went on a promotional tour to support the album. A series of concerts were planned to be held at
The Olympia
''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
and another venue in
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...
, however, it was scrapped a couple of weeks before.
"Je Cours" was released a promo single in early 1999, however due to lack of promotion, the song did not chart.
A deluxe edition, as well as a Digipack, were issued in late 1999. The reissue featured a slightly altered cover of the original album cover, as well as two new songs and remixes. The lead single for the reissue, "Je T'abandonne" was released on October 26, 1999. To promote the album, Winter appeared on several national talk shows and radio interviews. on January 22, 2000 in Cannes, Winter was the first presenter for the first ever
NRJ Music Award
An NRJ Music Award (commonly abbreviated as an NMA) is an award presented by the French radio station NRJ to honor the best in the French and worldwide music industry. The awards ceremony, created in 2000 by NRJ in partnership with the televisi ...
.
"Ce Que Je Suis" was released as the last single from ''Privacy'' released on February 22, 2000. To promote the song as well the reissue, a series of commercials were issued.
Critical reception
Privacy was critically panned upon its release. Many criticized her stray from her signature sound, especially for the lead single "Je Marche A L'envers". Michael Ferreira of
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
noted the album lacked in production and writing compared to her debut album. He also stated that much of the album felt like was made of filler and contained a mixture of lacking jazz and funk songs and solid R&B and Pop.
Charts
References
{{Authority control
1998 albums
Pop albums by French artists