Contenay-Quinones is the daughter of Carmen Quinones, a painter from Lima, Peru and was influenced by a wide variety of music early in life with the sounds of 1950s/60s rock & roll and pop being predominant.
Drum and bass influences were to be found on the next three (more underground) Espiritu singles, and on the second album Another Life, released after re-signing with Heavenly (then newly acquired by Deconstruction Records).
In 2001, the (Cream Records) song, "In Praise of the Sun" was released by the Mr. Joshua presents Espiritu (of Brian Higgins/Xenomania) collaboration, co-written by Nick Bracegirdle, better known as the dance artist Chicane.
A 2003 meeting in Manhattan with James Iha (formerly of the Smashing Pumpkins), Andreas Mattson (of Popsicle), and Niclas Frisk (of Atomic Swing) resulted in the formation of the band Vanessa and the O's and the release of the limited edition EP Plus Rien.
March 2012, James Iha's version of Vanessa & The O's song 'Till Next Tuesday' was released by EMI Music reaching number 8 on the Japanese top 10 singles chart.
with London-based producers Alex Rizzo and Elliot Ireland (of the duo Skeewiff) and released a '60s French pop-inspired analogue recorded album.
June 2011, Quinones released a specially written song "Show Me How" for the Vinyl Japan/Red Cross charity album for children orphaned by the March 2011 disaster, titled Omoiyari for Japan alongside Tom Verlaine, The Divine Comedy and others.
again made in conjunction with Skeewiff was released September 2014 on the Pedigree Cuts label to further critical acclaim in France and the title "Langue Au Chat" picking up many international synch usages.
After an extended musical hiatus following personal tragedy and the loss of loved ones Vanessa re-emerged with the third 'Allez Pop' album Voodoo Girl in March 2020, again a Skeewiff collaboration released via Pedigree Cuts worldwide.