The Penelopes
The duo had known each other since they were children in Northern Paris, discovering music throughout teenage years, listening to bands like Cocteau Twins, New Order and the Cure.
In juxtaposition to this, they told Wonderland Magazine, "the funk, disco, and rap music we heard growing up outside our windows was what influenced our dance approach."
Our songs are about simple pleasures, about taking a trip, about the great escapes, about all kind of fantasies, about friendship and poverty, about searching for the light."
The Penelopes' style is a mix of indie and dream pop, combined with disco and electro tight groove, layered with lush and melodies.
Their major influences are Cocteau Twins, the Cure, New Order, the Smiths, David Bowie, Joy Division, Devo, and Happy Mondays.
Axel told Digital Spy about their sound, "It’s a really difficult question – the background of The Penelopes are very rock and very new wave – then we tried to incorporate disco and electronics.
1883 Magazine said about the Penelopes' music, "with swirling layers of lush keyboard, punchy guitars and catchy hooks, their upbeat sound is just how you want to start and end your day".
Les Inrockuptibles said "the duo gave their best in the delicate exercise of writing pop songs, with many influences (The Cure for bass lines, Cocteau Twins on "Demian", New Order on "Paddy Will Have His Revenge", even techno on "Teenage Dust")".
Priceless Concrete Echoes is a side project, with major contributions from DJ Morpheus and produced by Black Strobe, released again on Citizen Records.
The video of the single "Stuck in Lalaland" was featured on Pitchfork, and the same song was remixed by Nouvelle Vague, in which Axel sang in duo with Elli Medeiros.
The album received great reviews from magazines and blogs such as Artrocker, The Guardian, Clash, Les Inrockuptibles, Harder Blogger Faster, and Topman Generation.
In 2023, the Penelopes launched their latest album, Life is Long, a series of duets with iconic French and Italian actresses, including Isabelle Adjani, Nathalie Baye, Asia Argento and Virginie Ledoyen.
The album was mastered by Miles Showell (Disclosure, Lana Del Rey, Portishead) and Oli Morgan at London’s iconic Abbey Road Studios.
These French electro-pop songwriters and producers, living in London, have designed music soundscapes for Prada, agnès b. and Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, composed several soundtracks for the big screen, and are regularly invited to appear at the Cannes Film Festival.
Other than France and UK, they have also played live across the world including Spain, Belgium, Sweden, Germany, Russia, USA, South America, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Taiwan.
