A Rising East Coast Star
Knocks From The Underground NY Album Review
Lili Roquelin grew up on southern coast of France and has been propelling herself forward since childhood. She dreamed of coming to the US to have a music career and so far that is exactly what she has done. In the past, she sang with the pop-rock band Phizzy Lager and collaborated on an album with Hate Dies Hard.
Now on her own, it’s hard to imagine that the artist needs anyone else. Crisp with talent, Roquelin is more accomplished than most people of any profession can ever hope to be — her entire album is produced, written, composed, arranged, performed, recorded, and pre-mixed by Roquelin herself. She also does her own PR and marketing.
In fact, the only help she’s seemed to have had is from her dedicated fanbase: Roquelin’s first release, LiLi Roquelin (2008), was completely fan-funded. The music video for the EP’s single, “I Saw You,” won the 2008 Best Music Video Queens International Film Festival and 2009 Best Pop Music Video Indie Gathering Film Festival.
Now Roquelin’s released her first full-length album, Will You Hate the Rest of the World or Will You Renew Your Life? (2010). The first track, “Come and Hear My Story,” is a literal invitation that from any other artist would come off as heavy-handed. But Roquelin, with Sarah McLachlan-esque grace, makes it all sound more appealing.
The sliding dissonance and dense composition that follows puts her music firmly in trip-hop, where it settles deep. Complex ballads with lingering themes of love and loss fill out the 9-track album, all sung with that undeniably endearing accent. “How We Grow” is a music box waltz and “Give you My Love” is a poignant call for the return of an old lover. Violins composed by Roquelin and performed by Laura Kay give this song the profound coating of old folk tradition.
Everything Roquelin touches she makes her own — even things she hasn’t created. Her cover of “Sally’s Song” (written by Danny Elfman for the Tim Burton cult-classic, A Nightmare Before Christmas) is nothing short of perfect. Always a haunting show-stopper, translated into French it becomes a song of grand devastation.
“Renew,” from which the album’s title comes, is a bitter operetta. Arguably the darkest song on the album, the first light grows with a hum of “I’ve been wondering, should I write about this?”
Whether or not she regrets it, we’re glad she did. Will You Hate the Rest of the World or Will You Renew Your Life? is now available for purchase. The new music video for “Should You Get Mad” (premiered February 15) can be seen on Lili Roquelin’s official website.
“Will you hate the rest of the world or will you renew your life?” asks singer-songwriter-producer LiLi Roquelin on the cover of her brand new album. This question is just as tender as it is thought-provoking and it can reflect how her music blends delicateness with a touch of darkness.
These catchy songs are graced by her crystalline vocals which give a strong, focused presence that haunt her piano-based progressive electronic sound. As we are invited in by the addictive melodies and piano rhythms from the first track “Come and hear my story”, it is quite difficult to resist to the charm of this endearing French import from a small town on the Riviera who came to the US to pursue her music career.
Other pieces in this thoughtful collection reveal her gift for conveying emotional truth and artful songs, like the down-tempo stringsorchestrated “Give you my love” and a French cover of Danny Elfman’s “Sally’s Song” (Tim Burton/ Nightmare before Christmas). This full-length album is the follow-up to the critically acclaimed fan-funded EP, released just over a year ago and recipient of two best music video awards.
With her musical talent and dazzling presence, Ms Roquelin definitely knows how to strike the iron while it’s hot and launches her new record with a breathtaking new music video for “Should you get mad”. A must hear… and see.
Nora E. Lindner with Knocks From the Underground has a great write up about Lili, “Lili Roquelin grew up on southern coast of France and has been propelling herself forward since childhood. She dreamed of coming to the US to have a music career and so far that is exactly what she has done. (…)