Originally from Saint-Étienne, Hugo Barriol grew up with drums. But it was on the other side of the world, in Sydney, where he spent a year, that he began playing in the subway. He travelled, met people, observed, wrote and composed, without yet knowing that he was creating the songs that would gradually change the course of his life. Back in Paris, he auditioned for the RATP and played in the subway for two years, five hours a day, five days a week. Far removed from the TV talent shows he refused to take part in, Hugo chose to champion his own songs. In 2015, he won the very first Metro Music Award for Best Subway Singer. The press then dubbed him “music’s Cinderella.” It was ultimately underground that his story began to rise: there he met his first producer, and later the director of the Naïve label. His debut EP was released, led by “On the Road,” a song written in Australia that would go on to surpass 20 million streams. Hugo gradually established himself on stages across France and internationally before travelling to London to record his first album, Yellow, with Ian Grimble, producer of Mumford & Sons, Bear’s Den and Daughter, at the legendary Church Studios. After an extensive tour of France and Europe, lockdown opened up a new field of exploration for him: music production. Hugo taught himself how to make his own music. In autumn 2023, he hit the road again, with only his guitar and van for company, travelling through Spain, Portugal and Morocco. This journey gave birth to *Everywhere / Anywhere /, his second album. The song “Something About It” was chosen to accompany the making-of film for A Little Something Extra (Un p’tit truc en plus), directed by Artus. Three EPs, two albums and more than 50 million streams later, Hugo Barriol changes language — but above all, he changes distance. For the first time, he loses contact with his father. Radio silence, more than a year without hearing from him. So he starts writing a song. Then two. Then three. With the hope that, by hearing them, his father might react, that something might change. This time, English is no longer enough. “There was no way for me to hide behind another language. I needed my words to be understood immediately, to be direct.” French imposes itself naturally, without him ever consciously deciding to make the switch. At the same time, Hugo begins couples therapy, which changes everything: for the first time, he connects with his emotions, understands the defence mechanisms he has built throughout his life, and learns how to open up and communicate. “I opened the floodgates, and I wrote this album.” Across these ten songs, he lays down everything he had been unable to say out loud to the people closest to him: his deepest fears, his anger, but also his immense love. His own very personal way of healing. Entirely in French, this album — the most personal he has ever written — also comes with a sonic evolution. Co-produced and arranged with Lilian Mille and Léo Fumagalli, it explores new instruments and textures, finding a new balance between the folk-pop that has shaped his musical universe and a more organic alternative sensibility — a kind of Folk 2.0. The album could have been called Famille, Thérapie or Mise à nu. Hugo chose Bleu, echoing the nickname his loved ones gave him as a child: Hugo Bleu.
Hallo, ich bin Maya.
