Cécile Schott the Parisian native instrumentalist whom I always thought “Colleen” was her real name, is back with a new album on her home Leaf. Yesteryear’s “Colleen et les boîtes à musique” could be labeled a concept album that satisfied her javanese love with a musical box, which was still good but not as engaging as her previous stuff. Colleen’s use of electronic samples with instruments like glockenspiel and her own guitar were perfectly natural but she seems to be increasingly instrumental nowadays. “Les Ondes Silencieuses” is on the brink of ambient music, slow and repetitive (sometimes even stagnant) like daily life of historical ages long gone. The reason for this might be the use of quaint instruments like the spinet, a smaller relative of the harpsichord or the viola da gamba, but there’s also a possible dislike of modern life and a romantic approach to life almost in favour of a pastoral life. This Parisienne lady has a gift of manifesting her emotional world perfectly, sombre and fragile this would be a perfect call to arms for all the broken hearted romantics around the world.

Thanks to Leaf Records’ Ben we have 2 tracks from “Les Ondes Silencieuses” and one from the previous music box EP. She’s going to make appearances in Ireland and UK, with a dream date with Murcof, Pierre Bastien, Modified Toy Orchestra, Muziq, Mira Calix and more on the Faster Than Sound Festival on June 9th.

Colleen live @ Empty Bottle, Chicago

Colleen video at Brainwashed

Colleen - Sea of Tranquillity
Colleen - Blue Sands
Colleen - The Sad Panther