Multi-Cultural Singing Sensation Chantal Chamandy's Exotic And Sensual Call To Romantics The World Over: ‘Love Needs You’

Remix Of Egyptian Born, Montreal Based Artist’s Explosive First Single “You Want Me” By Brian Rawlings (Cher’s “Believe”) Hits #4 On Music Week’s Upfront Club Chart After Burning Up The Dance Floors In London

Video For Song, Shot in Morocco, Receives Heavy Airplay On MTV And ‘The Box’ (A VH-1 Type Station) In The U.K.

Chantal Also Set To Issue “You Want Me (The Remixes),” Featuring Tracks Remixed By The Red Hot Miami Based Team Lee-Cabrera And The Bilz, To Coincide With Widescale European And North American Release Of ‘Love Needs You’

Across the pond, those tastemaking Brits just can’t get enough of “You Want Me,” the fiery and exotic first single from Chantal Chamandy’s ultra-sensuous, explosively romantic debut Love Needs You. A powerful remix of the song by Brian Rawlings (Cher’s “Believe”) has been burning up the dance floors in London, recently hitting #4 on Music Week’s Upfront Club Chart. The video, shot in Morocco, received heavy airplay on London’s MTV and ‘The Box,’ that city’s equivalent to VH-1.

Chantal hosted a huge record release party at Momo’s, the hottest Moroccan restaurant in London, and “You Want Me” is being used in prime time on the BBC’s Departure Lounge. She also sang the song after doing an interview on Good Morning London on ITV. Coinciding with the release of Love Needs You throughout the rest of Europe and in North America, Chantal is also set to put out a collection called “You Want Me (The Remixes),” featuring the Rawlings version in addition to tracks remixed by the Miami based production team Lee-Cabrera and The Bilz.

Despite all of this success throughout the U.K., the song, like Chantal herself, is truly an international, multi-cultural affair. Its English lyrics are complemented by passages in French, the first language spoken by Chantal, who grew up in and still lives in Montreal.

Musically, the driving, sweeping textures of “You Want Me” and the other 13 tracks on Love Needs You capture exciting elements of all the styles she loves—Latin (the track features the lush guitar work of former Gipsy Kings member Chico Castillo), Indian (her musical partner Subir Dev hails from Bangladesh), and Middle Eastern, whose rhythms come naturally for the singer, who was born in Alexandria, Egypt, to a Greek Egyptian father and a Lebanese mother.

“When I was writing these songs, I found myself searching for textures that represent the years when I was growing up,” says Chantal, who balanced formal training as a classical singer (under renowned vocalist Carmen Mehta) with a love for French music and American pop, soul and disco. “The wonderful thing about the blend of styles is that it’s not a sound that’s easily defined, but more of an experimental hybrid. I hired musicians that gave off an organic, free-spirited ‘roots vibe,’ starting with the flamenco guitar of Juan Carranza, then worked with my partner Subir, mixing the rhythms of his Indian tablas with my Middle Eastern darboukas. Besides those more obvious influences, there’s also a touch of Italian, and I even use the Chinese two-string erhu on the song ‘Forever.’

“Despite having a dance hit, a lot of people like to see me as a world music artist, but by design, I’m not conveying the essence of any one country,” she adds. “My music is definitely pop, inspired by a fusion of a lot of different cultures. And every time I hummed a melody when I was writing, a definite European vibe developed. It’s fun to mix things up.”

Chantal is fiercely loyal to her personal lyrics, conveying the expressions at hand much like an emotive interpreter. Her dedication to the importance of love and happiness in human relationships extends to Ask Chantal, an advice to the lovelorn column she writes on her website.

“The songs on the album are a true reflection of my thoughts and feelings,” she says. “Not only did I write about my own mosaic, but also about the experiences of friends, family and people that I have met along the way. Although people come from all walks of life, music and love are the common denominator that holds us together.”

Throughout the 14 tracks of Love Needs You, Chantal reveals waves of vulnerability and elation, loss and conviction, love and desire, all with the wisdom that can only come from being a devoted wife, mother, daughter and lastly, a strong woman whose wanderlust has led her to the far corners of the earth, both spiritually and physically. The overriding theme behind the album title is the idea that love needs real people experiencing life fully and honestly for it to be happy.

While the career making “You Want Me” is best known for its propulsive rhythms and sweeping exotica, its lyrics about a woman coming into a relationship from a position of strength are meant to empower people who have been hurt in relationships. “Crazy,” featuring various passages in French, is about the joys of giving up playing the field when you’ve found your true soul mate. The tender ballad “Feels Like Love” reflects on the idea that if it’s real, it shouldn’t be complicated, while “Peace” is dedicated to her six year old son, Harley.

Two of the songs feature foreign language titles. “Zindegi,” which means “life” in an Indian language, is based on a real person’s heartwrenching decision to rebel against her parents and reject an arranged marriage in favor of being with her true love. “Salma Ya Salama” is Chantal’s half French, half Arabic language rendition of a traditional Arabian song.

Throughout her life, Chantal’s multi-cultural ethnic background has been mirrored by her eclectic artistic leanings. Fluent in four languages (English, French, Arabic, Italian) and hard at work on her Spanish, she has performed in musical theatre, been an actress both onstage and in film (including an independent movie in New York) and done dancing and choreography, in addition to her extensive operatic training.

“All of these things have prepared me to be onstage and perform my music for people, and I can’t wait to ” she says. “I really love the way music can touch people, and as we work on putting together my live show, I’m constantly thinking about sharing all of my experiences with the audience and how exciting that’s going to be. It’s easy for artists to sing about destruction, pain and suffering, but I’m here to say that I truly believe in love.”

For more Information log onto: chantalchamandy.com.