Emilie Simon The Big Machine (Le Plan, April 12; vinyl April 16) Announcing New Album, The Big Machine, Out April 12 \u201cRainbow\u201d MP3 Premiered On PopMatters!<\/p>\n
\u201cinventive\u201d
\n\u2013 The New Yorker<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026 songwriter with a demure crackly voice whose music is rooted in Bjork-esque notions of how technology and nature stream together.\u201d
\n\u2013 SPIN<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026 an electro-pop singer with a thump, purr, and sizzle.\u201d
\n\u2013 Interview<\/p>\n
“Upbeat stomping epics that build and build”
\n\u2013 The Independent<\/p>\n
One of France’s most renowned artists, Emilie Simon, launched her career in 2003 and immediately captured the imagination of a large audience with her sprawling and elegant musical fantasies, earning three Victoires de la Musique (France\u2019s Grammy equivalent) during the course of her first three albums. She gained international acclaim for scoring the smash documentary March of the Penguins and saw her first US release in 2006 with The Flower Book. In 2008, she relocated to Brooklyn where she recorded her new album The Big Machine surrounding herself with talented guests such as Kelly Pratt and Jeremy Gara (Arcade Fire) as well as Jon Natchez (Beirut) or Mark Plati (David Bowie, The Cure, Brazilian Girls).<\/p>\n
The Big Machine is full of Emilie\u2019s powerful and seductive voice, inventively playful arrangements, driving synths and rhythms, and prodigious melodies. \u201cThe Ballad of the Big Machine\u201d driving piano and horns punctuate Emilie\u2019s plea to let her in. The percolating rhythm of \u201cThe Cycle\u201d commands you to dance as Emilie\u2019s voice wraps itself around the beats and soars until the song explodes. \u201cRocket to the Moon\u201d takes us back to an era that didn\u2019t quite exist, it\u2019s big band sound is reminiscent of the 1920s is also decorated with futuristic flourishes. \u201cThis is Your World\u201d ends the adventure with a command to reclaim the world.<\/p>\n
Her iconic style has made her a respected voice in fashion. She is often seen donning dresses by Yeojin Bae, Jean-Paul Gauthier or Vivienne Westwood and collaborated with Paule Ka to design her stage attire. She blazes her own trail aesthetically, incorporating vintage clothing or up and coming designers to more established names, toying with fashion as she does with sounds.<\/p>\n
Emilie Simon is equal parts breathtaking grandeur and bewitching intimacy. Have an early listen to album track \u201cRainbow\u201d where it premieres on PopMatters or HERE<\/a> and watch her re-imagine the sprawling track HERE as part of her \u201cBedford Avenue Sessions\u201d, a series of solo performances in her house. You can see her use \u201cthe arm\u201d a custom instrument built for her that encases her left arm and allows her to trigger effects on her voice and samples.<\/p>\n