After years of success on TV and YouTube, the Swiss singer with Kosovan roots has brought out his first album. “The Game” is packed with poetic pop songs tugging at heartstrings the world over.
The Swiss singer Gjon’s Tears released his first album, “The Game”, in April. However, this young man, who hails from Gruyère but now lives in Paris, is by no means a newcomer to the music industry. He already has hosts of fans, after representing the country at Eurovision and appearing on TV talent shows. His fame has also been amplified many times over by YouTube views, with “Tout l’Univers”, Switzerland’s 2021 Eurovision entry, attracting comments from more than 3,600 users. He came third in the contest, notching up 55 million views. Gjon’s Tears came to fame on the internet, which continues to serve him well. A user named Domups wrote “World class, our Federer of singing” about his song “Cancer”. “You’ve got me crying in bed at 00.42 in the morning,” wrote another fan. The song conveys an unfathomable sense of melancholy. Gjon Muharremaj, who performs on stage with trademark blue or black tears drawn onto one or both cheeks, has devastated listeners with the lyrics about how the disease will catch up with you and cause insomnia before taking you in its embrace. “I cried listening to ‘Cancer’,” wrote acidlulluby on YouTube, who admitted to not understanding the words but explained they were moved by Gjon’s Tears’ hauntingly high voice, which made them “feel the song with my heart”. The track in question is dedicated to a friend who died of leukaemia.
“The Game” showcases the full range of Gjon’s talents, with a voice that spans several octaves. It expresses sadness, melancholy and joy. Some tracks simply have chart smash written all over them. A case in point is “Pure”, which is built on an electronic bassline and has a very slick video – like his others – that begins with a conversation with Géraldine Chaplin. Gjon sings that life is hard, but it’s worth it, and when it’s pure, my God, it’s beautiful. He evokes the need for sharp elbows in order to succeed, but also backstabbing. There are parallels with the setbacks that Gjon encountered after moving to Paris. “The world of show business is not always a very nice place to live,” he explained in an interview.
This sensitive young man’s story can be read as an ode to a pluralist Switzerland. Gjon Muharremaj was born in Saanen, in the canton of Berne, on 29 June 1998. His Kosovan father Hysni is a crane operator and bricklayer. His Albanian-born mother Elda worked at the Cailler chocolate factory after the family moved to Broc in 2000, according to his Wikipedia profile. Gjon grew up in the village of Gruyère. He fell in love with music when learning the piano. The story goes that two years later he moved his grandfather to tears with his rendition of Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love”. This is where his rather unusual stage name comes from (NB: Gjon is pronounced like the English name John).
Gjon, whose live performances call to mind those by a lyrical singer, borrows from a number of genres. His debut album cover shows him wearing a black frock coat and Doc Martens, paying homage to the New Wave movement and The Cure in particular. Listeners can also detect a love of disco in “The Game”. Gjon, who played Bach as a child and has also tried yodelling and Indian chanting, cites Cesária Évora, Grace Jones, Björk and David Bowie among his influences. The tone and profundity of his lyrics give a poetic, literary edge to his pop songs. When he plays the piano solo, Gjon might call to mind the French chanteuse Barbara, Jacques Brel or, closer to our own time, the Belgian singer Stromae.
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