Her debut album FRANCE has been available in her home country of er, France for some time now but now the twenty-something has made her way across the English channel and is ready to storm our shores with future pop. “It took a bit of time because we first focused on my home market and continental Europe where I toured quite extensively and then it was a case of finding the right UK partner for the record, one that would be passionate enough and also crazy enough to embark in the adventure of helping develop a new artist like me!”
Released towards the back end of last month via Sony Music and Aztec Records, it is an album of cinematic scope trademarked with hugely dance-orientated moments throughout, but it’s also much deeper than that, “I value lyrics that actually mean something! I’m French after all, a literary nation, that might have something to do with it who knows!”
Music hasn’t always been a full-time thing though, “When I was a Fine Arts student, I also had a day job so the only time I could write songs was at night…Every night, I tried to compose and I felt more inspired when all around me was quiet. It’s one of the reasons I picked the stage name I have. To me the Owl not only represents the night but also the mystery and the grace of silence.”
Originally more interested in video and cinematography until witnessing Brian Eno’s A/V installation ‘Quiet Club’ a few years ago. “That installation has changed something in me. I realized I could mix mediums, that there was no rigid barriers between disciplines, It struck me that I didn’t have to abandon anything, that my voice, that songs could actually be part of the equation, mixed with those other things I love to create.”
It is a mind-set that she carried with her during the creation process of her debut record, “I see my album as a movie with different chapters!
I didn’t lock myself up for a month or two to write all of the songs from FRANCE with a specific theme in mind, they came one after another, before I was even seeing the possibility of making an album, yet when the time came to put the record together and I had this collection of demos, I realized all of them reflected me, and me alone, none of them are impersonal, and in this sense, they made for a cohesive piece of work to me regardless of their difference in style or influences.”
Such a deep answer is to be expected from an artist who has a DIY approach to everything she does, and thinks that independence is key to being in control of your own art. “Making art by yourself, it’s like an intellectual and spiritual construction. I love collaborating but at this point in my career I’m also super protective of my own stuff, having this somehow natural feeling that nobody can see as clearly as myself what I want exactly. But I don’t rule out changing in the future and opening the circle!”
She has of course already gifted one of her tracks ‘Don’t Lose It’ to hot New York producer Saint Pepsi to re-work. “I approached him, I was looking for a remix and I discovered his work on the web. We didn’t know each other but I reached out, took my chance and I was super thrilled by the result and I hope he has enjoyed the exercise too.”
She continues to tell her story “I’m a self-taught musician, with no classical training with any instruments; I like to browse the web to find weird sounds. Recently the NASA SoundCloud hypnotised me, they have many strange sequences streaming there, right from outer space! That’s exciting and inspiring to me!”
While Owlle is definitely a musician first and foremost she already has bigger plans set for the future, “Making art videos or music videos is one of my grand projects. I can’t wait to explore more and propose something for my next record. But I consider myself above all as a singer and a composer now, the rest is only a bonus.”
FRANCE is out now on Aztec Records, her new single ‘Fog’ can be heard below.
https://soundcloud.com/owlle/fog/s-iqGLO
For more info visit www.owlle.com