Yelle - A Cause De Yelle
Last year Yelle and Uffie were paired as the princesses of the French electro pop empire. But while Uffie appears to be taking her time in the studio (um, hello – album-) Yelle has been hard at work, and come Good Vibes next year, should have some new tracks for y’all.
One thing that strikes me about French music is that is fun – or at least it doesn’t take itself too seriously. That could have something to do with all those quirky French accents as well – but Julie Budet has struck the right chord with her new debut album Pop Up. It contains a certain nostalgia lifted from the golden years of French electro pop with a boost of her own self flavoured groove – with a firm yet subtle vibe.
The result is an album that encapsulates the story of a girl with a strong character and a humorous disposition. Is she in fact pop music though- “In fact we are more in between pop and electronic music” she chimes. “This sound is very popular in France right now and I think that is because the crowd wants something new. They want something that mixes popular styles and I think it is really important that we follow this path. People really like us because we just arrived at a good time for music. We can even do our own thing to some extent as long as it is in keeping with what the crowd wants.”
Likewise, the work with her partner in crime Grand Marnier began when they decided they wanted to facilitate a project with a focus on fun and spontaneity. “It’s in the lyrics too – we might talk about a dream or a party and it can be like a ping pong game between us,” she says. “I might begin to work on something and then we might change some ideas and work from there. It’s just a really good energy and connection between us. We are real fans of the 1980s and old keyboards and it was important for us to find good old sounds like that and to use them in our production, making sure that it is more modern. We just started to work like that and after six months we had enough songs for the album.”
The duo is actually a couple in real-life so relationships and love form the basis for the album. “It’s not difficult to find the difference between the private and the musical life. What is hard is touring together all the time. So that is difficult, but usually that is also a lot of fun. There is a lot of energy there given there are only the two of us. Actually, we have another person to help out so we’ve become a bit of a trio. We both thought it was an important evolution for the band and we are now looking to do a new album so it has really become a band project now.”
Certainly, so much has transpired for the girl who considers herself a little Parisian teenager. It’s the same girl who finds herself in her self-determined little town; hanging out at little bars and having drinks with friends and going shopping. “My life inspires me,” she says. “I talk about the life of a 25-year-old girl in my music; I talk above love and relationships between boys and girls. I like to be honest and search in my own mind to talk about things that mean things to me. That is why I absolutely love what I do.”
WHO: Yelle
WHAT: Plays Good Vibrations at Centennial Park
WHEN: Saturday 14 February
MORE: gvf.com.au