Yelle

Back in the summer of 2005. It was with those spirited, explicit lyrics, laid on a bootyshaking pop electro beat, that Yelle, a young girl from Brittany (France), thought it was time
to give Cuizinier, member of the provocative Hip-Hop band TTC some change for his money.

The minute this humorous track got put on her MySpace page, people rushed to hear it: 2000 plays after just two days, fan comments and private concert requests came from all over the
world including places never heard of before, as well as crooked deals by major record labels (for example Source, the record label that was with France’s electronic French Touch wave
from the outset) who had spotted the bad girl in this eye-catching chick.

Yelle grew up with music, her dad being a famous musician in the Côtes d’Armor region, where she still lives today. She played the piano, then went on to acting, and played in a few
bands that never made it past the rehearsals, but whatever: she knew she was a born performer.

Five years ago, she met GrandMarnier at a marshmallow party. This young musician and producer, was going back and forth between his own band and his student room where he was
making beats on his computer. Although his teens were all about Rock music, he was drawn to electronic music after listening to the Beastie Boys and started mucking around with his machines. Yelle started singing on GrandMarnier’s demos just for a laugh at first, but the combination of the boy’s electronic loops and the girl’s half-sung half-rapped voice worked
so well that they naturally ended up producing an electro pop album all in French if you please. Yelle’s golden voice was in the house!

Last autumn, for her first show, Yelle, bold and audacious, was invited to Paris Paris, one of Paris’ trendiest venues, packed on the occasion and waiting to hear the young provincial’s
crazy lyrics and off the hook loops. The set, very rock and in-your-face, was a success as the crowd all joined in to sing the lyrics to “Je veux te voir….” (“I wanna see you”) becoming in
just a few months a cult hit on dance floors from Paris to London and New York…

Now very much at ease on stage with her fluo tights, the brunette with attitude promises a hot summer with her 1st album, where echoes a certain nostalgia for the golden years of French electro-pop (Etienne Daho, Elli & Jacno, Alain Chamford, Taxi Girl or Lio) but all boosted with her own flavoured groove and subtle vibe into some booty-pop, revealing the story of a
shameless girl with a strong character.

So “85A” (a French breasts measurement), very close to the tune of “Banana Split” is dedicated to small breasts (“Pamela would never have given me self confidence on that side.
Thankfully Jane Birkin was a classier woman”). “Les Femmes” (“Women”) slyly talks about lesbian temptation, while “My best friend” and its bouncy keyboards is an ode to dildos (“you are all so small, my best friend, I take you with me everywhere I go. I talk to you like you are a sweet and sensitive man; the only thing that annoys me about you is I have to change your batteries”). Yelle has broken away from
feminine insecurity, no more nostalgia! (“I sing in 80s French, I don’t look back to the past, but there were still good times back then” she sings in “Amour du sol” literally “Love of the
soil”). Yelle is this woman, liberated from the 70s feminist castrating ideas, and speaking very freely, whether it be about sex, jogging, boys who drive her crazy or her best friends. Yelle, winks at boys like a true playful brat, but still casts a very cynical eye to the world surrounding her.
Yelle is young and pretty; also a very explosive character entering the more rigid French pop scene. This stage freak with a unique flow is fully driving the new non-aggressive girl power
scene, focusing on delivering kick-ass lyrics. She also doesn’t take herself seriously and is refreshingly laidback, especially when she proudly covers the song “A cause des garcons”
(“What we do for boys”) a French 80s anthem, so thrilling and amusing, that it looks like a sure hit for the charts this summer. Let’s all sing along to the lyrics: (“What we do for boys,
we wear stockings, we fight each other, boys make us worry, we cry all the time, that’s what we do for boys”….)