Au Revoir Simone

All Music Guide:

The Brooklyn indie pop outfit Au Revoir Simone features Heather D'Angelo (vocals/drum machine/keyboard), Erika Forster (vocals/keyboard), and Annie Hart (vocals/keyboard). Borrowing their name from a minor character in the Tim Burton comedy Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, the Casio-centric group came together in late 2003, when Forster and Hart befriended one another while traveling by train from Vermont to New York. From there, they became fast friends and began writing songs together. D'Angelo and Sung Bin Park (keyboard/vocals) were added to the dreamy pop fray after contributing to many practice sessions, but Park left in January 2005 to pursue other projects. A year later, Au Revoir Simone issued their debut album, Verses of Comfort, Assurance & Salvation. It was self-released in the United States and appeared on the Moshi Moshi label throughout Europe. Additionally, the song "Through the Backyards" was included in the season finale to Grey's Anatomy that spring, thus boosting the trio's profile. Au Revoir Simone's second album, The Bird of Music, was released one year later, while a track-by-track remix of the record appeared in 2008 under the title Reverse Migration. The trio's third album, Still Night, Still Light, was produced by Thom Monahan and released by Our Secret Record Company in spring of 2009.

Wikipedia:

Au Revoir Simone is an electronic dream pop band from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, formed in late 2003. The group is composed of Erika Forster (vocals/keyboard), Annie Hart (vocals/keyboard), and Heather D'Angelo (vocals/drum machine/keyboard). The band's name comes from a line Pee-wee Herman says to a minor character (named Simone) in Tim Burton's 1985 film, Pee-wee's Big Adventure.

History[edit]

Au Revoir Simone began in the autumn of 2003 when Erika Forster and Annie Hart first became acquainted on a long train ride home to NYC from a weekend getaway with friends. Along the way they exchanged stories and ambitions, and discovered that they shared a common desire to form an all-keyboard band. When they returned to New York City, they began meeting regularly to play music. Heather D'Angelo started joining in at these informal bedroom band practices, which also included former member Sung Bin Park (keyboard/vocals). Soon after, they started playing shows around Manhattan and Brooklyn. In January 2005, Park left the band and the girls started anew as a trio. In 2006 they did a Take-Away Show video session shot by Vincent Moon, and toured the US, Canada and Europe with We Are Scientists. The following year, they went on a US tour with Peter, Bjorn and John. In 2007 they played a concert at Fondation Cartier in Paris for David Lynch's retrospective exhibition. The stage they performed on was a recreation of the set from his film Eraserhead. Au Revoir Simone played at both the Treasure Island Music Festival and Monolith Festival in September 2007, as well as the Lovebox festival in London in 2009. At the end of 2009 the group embarked on their own headlining tour of Japan. In 2007, the band contributed a t-shirt design to raise money for Transportation Alternatives. In 2010, they created one of the first interactive music videos for their song "Knight of Wands." In true coloring book style, the video allows viewers to become a part of the creative process. The band's debut album was named after a tiny book that Hart received, titled Verses of Comfort, Assurance and Salvation. The group felt that the name completely fit their music and the way it made them feel, so they chose it for the album title.Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist}} template (see the help page).

Musical style[edit]

Au Revoir Simone's music has been described by London's The Times as "a collision between the Waitresses, Stereolab and Kings of Convenience, their music has power from what it holds back rather than spells out, and is just waiting to be fallen in love with (or to)." British Vogue has said, “Eschewing the typical guitar-heavy band set-up for old-school synthesizers and vintage drum machines, [Au Revoir Simone] create dreamy synth-pop. Their soft ethereal vocals laid over spare homemade drumbeats are reminiscent of Air and Stereolab." Pitchforkmedia.com has said their music is "feather-light electro-pop that's not to be taken lightly." David Lynch called the group's music "innocent, hip and new." Spin also reviewed the group: "Powered by vintage keyboards, a lockstep beat-box, and gorgeous, wide-eyed warbling, the Simones create make-out music for your inner android." NME said: "Au Revoir Simone [appears] onstage like the sisters from The Virgin Suicides—[its] looks ranging from prim librarian, to hippy housewife to raven-haired art student. [The group] excavates the lost corner, joining Ladytron and Camera Obscura: lush electronic hypno-folk that breezes from the speakers like chocolate melting over one of Latitude's many £5-a-crepe food stalls". In another NME article, the magazine noted, "Au Revoir Simone must have beamed in from a land where lace clouds breeze over crystal lakes and icicles grow from the warm earth. This New York three-piece's glorious synth-lead alt-folk will leave you crying on the stairs in the middle of the night." The group defined itself as playing "warm and electronic music with forthright female vocalists."Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist}} template (see the help page).

Musical influences[edit]

According to the website of the band's European label, the group's musical influences could be "likened to a dutifully mined musical thrift store"; these diverse influences include Modest Mouse, Stereolab, The Mountain Goats, Louis Prima, Pavement, The Beach Boys, Björk, Broadcast, Belle & Sebastian, David Bowie, Bee Gees, and Billie Holiday. Forster harbors a love of German label Morr Music, specifically artists such as Guther, Lali Puna, and Ms. John Soda.Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist}} template (see the help page).

In popular culture[edit]

One of Au Revoir Simone's songs was featured on the 100th episode of Grey's Anatomy. In 2009 their song "The Lucky One" was the closing song in episode 12 of the third season of Ugly Betty (2009), was featured in the "Loyal and True" episode of 2004-2009 series The L Word, and served as the background music for a Cheerios cereal television commercial. "Sad Song" was featured in the 2007 German blockbuster movie Keinohrhasen (English: Rabbits Without Ears) and on the soundtrack of the 2011 movie From Prada to Nada. "The Lucky One" and "Don't See The Sorrow" can also be heard in the 2008 Japanese movie "Kimi no Tomodachi" (English: "Your Friends"). "Another Likely Story" was the closing song in the 10th episode of the first season of Covert Affairs. The group performed "Stay Golden," "Sad Song," and "Dark Halls" live at a 2007 Robert Normand fashion show in Paris. Au Revoir Simone have also featured in both the original and the Aeroplane remix of Friendly Fires track "Paris".