Sébastien Tellier

In 2001 Tellier signed with Record Makers where he released his debut album “L'incroyable Vérité” (The Incredible Truth) presenting his quirky blend of lo-fi electronica, new-wave pop and piano riddled cabaret sung in both English and French. Receiving raving reviews, the album provided Tellier with the opportunity to support French Electro duo Air allowing him to work on stage with American theremin player Pamelia Kurstin.

Four years later he released his second album entitled “Politics” in name and subject matter which saw him collaborate with Nigerian drummer Tony Allen and incorporate string arrangements in the popular track “La Ritournelle” which served well as a track for many artists to remix, most famously by Metronomy.

His third album “Sexuality” released in 2008 and produced by Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, one half of French house duo Daft Punk added more synthpop with an underlying R&B tone, making it Tellier’s most commercial release peaking at number 33 in the French album charts.

On 24 May 2008 Tellier represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest held in Belgrade, Serbia. With an eccentric performance, involving him entering the stage in a golf buggy accompanied by backing singers dressed exactly like Tellier with matching beards. Part way through Tellier inhales helium adding to the already apparent comical effect. His incredibly catchy synthtastic track “Divine” was the first French entry into the competition to be largely sung in English which sparked controversy with his fellow countrymen citing that as the reason France didn’t chart very highly.

With his music being used left, right and centre on soundtracks and on remixes, Tellier has become a synth-pop sensation with his unique brand, eccentricity, spontaneity, witty sense of humour and unforgettable performances time after time.

When most musicians say that they had a musical childhood, what they normally mean is that they spent two weeks in the recorder club or had a couple of piano lessons if they’re really being honest. This is very much not the case for Yael Naïm, as a couple of years after moving with her family to Israel when she was four, she joined the Israel Defence Force as a soloist in the Israeli Air Force Orchestra. I’m sure you’ll agree that that’s some heavy stuff, but all the same singing shortly became her passion, and once she came of age she began her singing career in musical theatre. After spending a couple of months playing a role in the musical Les Dix Commandments, she signed a record deal with EMI and recorded her first album in Los Angeles. The record was released in 2001 but wasn’t an enormous success, so she was dropped from the label and in 2003, Naïm moved from Israel to her home city of Paris.

In 2005, she began a musical partnership with David Donatien, a Parisian percussionist, and over the next two years they worked on the songs that would become Naïm’s self-titled second album. The record was released in 2007 and became a huge hit in her home country, charting at number 11 on the French Album charts, but the best was yet to come for Naïm. Near the end of 2007, Steve Jobs hand-picked her song “New Soul” to feature in the adverts for Apple’s latest laptop, the MacBook Air. The commercial aired in January 2008, and a mere month after it debuted, the digital sales of the song alone saw it hurtle into the Billboard Hot 100 at number nine, before peaking at number seven a week later. Naïm’s career was well and truly made after that, and ever since then she’s remained a cult hero to many music fans all over the world, and a star in her native France. In all, she comes highly recommended.