SXSW Music Interview: Lou Rebecca
French chanteuse infuses current pop with retro influences
By Christina Garcia, Fri., March 15, 2019
Paris-born Lou Rebecca dreams bigger since her eponymous 2018 debut on Austin's Holodeck Records.
"I've been directing the music videos, and it's becoming part of the vision when I'm writing," she explains. "In my dreams, I would work with dancers, costume designers, and set designers to create a story from the first chord until the last shot."
Rebecca's voice is feathery sweet in English or French, while videos supporting the EP are tender and nostalgic, like her sound: glitter-edged roses in soft auburn hair and a forlorn ballerina in an empty room. The chanteuse cites Ella Fitzgerald and Michel Legrand as influences, but writes brokenhearted disco music with catchy melodies – synthy sweet, orchestral, night-club pop.
"These days, I listen to a lot of Eighties French disco and Japanese pop," she affirms.
Live, Rebecca works with Austin's Josh Mills of industrial synth band Missions.
"It's been magical. Writing together comes very naturally," she writes. "We have an album coming out on Holodeck very soon this year."
