Valérie

Don't you just hate that? You discover a band, they make great music but when you decide to queue up to become a fan, they close shop. That's what happened to me with Autour de Lucie, a seminal 90's rockband in France with a husky singer (Valérie Leulliot) and jangling guitars. Legend has it that when he met Valérie, producer Ian Capple (who worked with Bashung, and produced AdL's Faux Mouvements-album) saw her as the epitome of 60s female artist. The blonde locks, the voice, the sad look in her eyes, great combination. If Françoise Hardy had been born in 1967, like Leulliot, no doubt she'd been in a band like Autour de Lucie. Valérie was destined to become a mediadarling: she's the daughter of a famous tv-presenter and a radio-celeb. She started off as a solo-singer, but wanted to be in a band. Autour de Lucie, read their story and how they became one of France's most succesful export-acts here.
Autour de Lucie called it quits in 2005 (members started working on their own projects, a nice euphemism for pulling the plug), leaving behind a handful of albums, my fave being their last, La Grande Évasion. Sunny pop with loud guitars, a hint of electronics, nice lyrics and That Voice. It took Valérie about a year, then her soloalbum was ready. I nearly missed that too, if it wasn't for a great review on French Touch. No loud guitars on Caldeira (released last month), it's more hush-hush, with piano, acoustic guitars and some synths. If you'd never heard about Val, or Autour de Lucie, this is a great day to get acquainted.

Valérie Leulliot - Les Falaises
Valérie Leulliot - Un Point de Chute
Valérie on Dailymotion
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Autour de Lucie - Tournesol (from L'Echappée Belle, 1994)
Autour de Lucie - Chanson sans issue (from Immobile, 1997)
Autour de Lucie - Le Dernier Mot (from Faux Mouvement, 2000)
Autour de Lucie - Nos Vie Limitrophes (from La Grande Évasion, 2004)