Joining us at the Lee Jeans pop-up studio in the Nexus Lounge, Amsterdam, we spoke with Citadelle about their experiences working as a duo, their approach to social media marketing, and the release of their debut album, Pilot.
After teaming up with Martin Garrix to create their first hit single ‘Alive’ for F1 champion Max Verstappen’s documentary, Parisian duo Citadelle have gone from hit to hit, with their 2022 single ‘Through It All’ also drawing particular acclaim. During that time, they’ve continued to work with Garrix through his label STMPD RCRDS.
Alongside those releases, they’ve also done countless festival performances on stages across the world, building up an incredible, international fanbase. And now, two years into the project and with a debut album taking fans by storm, suffice it to say that the pair are truly coming into their own.
Of course, musical collaboration can be challenging, requiring artists to share a creative vision. Working as an ensemble, the pair highlight how their tastes have developed together as the two have explored various musical styles.
“We really met around music. We had the same tastes. At the time, it was French house music; then we went into Swedish music… Progressive house, traditional… Then we moved more into deep house, melodic stuff. It’s a bit of a mixture of each of these inspirations.”
And all these inspirations have contributed to creating their incredible album Pilot. With thirteen stunning tracks, the album combines old favorites ( including both ‘Alive’ and ‘Through It All’) with exciting new material to create a medley of sound that’s unique and fascinating.
In particular, tracks such as ‘Narrative’ and ‘Need You Most’ point to just how willing the pair are to experiment with their sound. Both tracks incorporate elements of progressive house along with that core melodic focus. The result is an almost haunting sound, clearly building and developing the style first pioneered in ‘Alive.’
Of course, the Martin Garrix team-up isn’t the only collaboration this album features. Pilot also brings the duo with several other artists including Drove, S:NE, Aramis, FRATTA, and Dan Soleil.
In recent years, social media marketing has become a fundamental part of music promotion, with every artist looking for their own way to stand out amongst the crowd. When asked about their favorite social media trends, Citadelle stressed the importance of originality in everything they do.
“We don’t want to follow a trend just because it’s trendy… We prefer to invent new formats.”
Suppose you’d like to learn more about Citadelle, their debut album pilots, favorite historical period, and their go-to dance moves. Why not check out the full, exclusive Nexus Radio interview?
