Agnès Jaoui is a woman of many talents – singer, actress, playwright, screenwriter and Oscar-nominated movie director – and as a musician she draws on many cultures, especially those of the Latin world.

'Nostalgias' takes its name from a haunting tango, but on the album’s 14 tracks she sings not only in Spanish, but in her native French and Hebrew and Arabic. “I perform music that I love”, says Jaoui. “There are purists in each musical genre, but, for me, music is absolutely not about purism, it’s about cross-fertilisation.”

On 'Nostalgias', Jaoui performs both new material and cover versions. The arrangements are predominantly the work of the composer and performer Fernando Fiszbein, who was born in Argentina, but who has made his base in France - he worked with the King of Tango, Ástor Piazzolla, and appears on the album as guitarist, bandoneonist and vocalist.

When asked what she feels about nostalgia as a sentiment, Jaoui says: “Literally, the word ‘nostalgia’ evokes a sense of pain for home and the past. I prefer the [Portuguese] word saudade, which suggests a pleasure that is missing. Yes, I love the music and voices of the past – they take me somewhere I feel secure – but I am not someone who wants to live in the past. I find the idea of the ‘good old days’ pretty ridiculous, and if I look to the past it is with the intention of moving forward, and of reinterpreting what has gone before – not of burying myself in it.”

Track Listing:
1. Si yo pudiera - Lyrics and music by Fernando Borrego Linares
2. J'ai voulu être une autre - Lyrics by Agnès Jaoui, music by Roberto Hurtado, arrangement by Fernando Fiszbein  and Roberto Hurtado
3. Alfonsina y el mar - Lyrics by Félix Cesar  Luca, original music by Ariel Ramirez
4. Como la cigarra – Lyrics and original music by María Elena Walsh
5. Di la verdad - Lyrics and original music by Roberto Hurtado
6. Mon cher bien mal acquis – French lyrics by Agnès Jaoui, original music by Antonio Candeia
7. Tonada de la luna llena – Lyrics and music by Simón Díaz Márquez
8. La alegria – Lyrics and music by Yasmin Levy
9. Canción de las cosas simples  - Lyrics by Armando Tejada Gomez, original music by Julio Cesar Isella
10. No se si fue de ti  - Lyrics and original music by Antoine Garcia
11. Sanarjiou - Lyrics and original music by Rahbani Brothers
12. Yeladim Ze simcha – Lyrics by Joshua Sobol, music by Shlomo Bar
13. Le temps déraisonnable - French lyrics by Agnès Jaoui, original music by Rocha Jose Fontes
14. Nostalgias - lyrics by Enrique Cadícamo, original music by Juan Carlos Cobián