Yelle is a French band founded by lead singer and namesake Yelle (Julie Budet) and GrandMarnier (Jean-François Perrier). A third member, Tepr (Tanguy Destable), joined the band before the recording of their debut album. Yelle and GrandMarnier began working on music together in 2000. The band came to prominence when it posted an early version of the song "
Je veux te voir" on
MySpace in September 2005, which later reached the top five in France. The success of the song on MySpace attracted the attention of a record label, which set them to work on their debut album, ''
Pop Up'', which was released in 2007. The group's second album, ''
Safari Disco Club
''Safari Disco Club'' is the second studio album by French electropop band Yelle. It was released on 14 March 2011 by Barclay Records. The album was promoted by the singles "Safari Disco Club", "Que veux-tu" and "Comme un enfant".
Promotion
The ...
'', was released in 2011, their third, ''
Complètement fou'', in 2014, and their fourth, ''
L'Ère du Verseau'' in 2020.
They have enjoyed a significant following overseas in non-French-speaking countries as well. They toured internationally in support of each of their album releases and have played at
Coachella Coachella may refer to:
* Coachella, California
* Coachella Canal, in California
* Coachella (festival), an annual music and arts festival in California
* "Coachella – Woodstock in My Mind
"Coachella – Woodstock In My Mind" is a song by Ame ...
three times.
History
Budet met and became good friends with producer GrandMarnier in 2000, and in 2005, they began making music together when both wanted to start an electropop band.
[ ] The name of the band, Yelle, began as an acronym of the phrase "You Enjoy Life", "YEL", but was later feminised to "Yelle" because a Belgian band had the name already.
[ Yelle rose to fame on MySpace when they posted a song titled "Short Dick Cuizi", which later became "Je veux te voir", in late 2005.] The song's original title refers to Cuizinier of French alternative hip-hop band TTC and was released as a mock diss track
A diss track, diss record or diss song (diss – abbr. from ''disrespect'') is a song whose primary purpose is to verbally attack someone else, usually another artist. Diss tracks are often the result of an existing, escalating feud between the t ...
. It received a positive response and soon attracted the attention of record label Source Etc.[ The song later charted at No. 4 in France. Yelle then began working on and recording their debut album, '' Pop Up'', in 2006. While performing at night,][ producer Tepr had been roped into the band in 2007 after meeting GrandMarnier while working as a journalist.][ They were in need of a keyboard player on tour.
''Pop Up'' was released in September 2007. ]AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...
called it "a perfect storm of glossy production values, smart songwriting, and Budet's sparkling delivery."
The album produced another single, "A cause des garçons
"A caus' des garçons" or "A cause des garçons" (french: "Because of the Boys") is a song first released by the French duo À Caus' des Garçons comprising Laurence Heller and Hélène Bérard in 1987. It was covered by French trio Yelle on the ...
", which reached number eleven on the French Singles Chart. Yelle was featured on Fatal Bazooka
Fatal Bazooka () is a French comedy rap character by Michaël Youn, and a former band including himself, Vincent Desagnat and Benjamin Morgaine. The act originated in a 2002 TV show which its members hosted at the time.
Fatal Bazooka is also ...
's French number-one song "Parle à ma main
"Parle à ma main" (French for "Talk to the hand") is a 2006 song recorded by French act Fatal Bazooka featuring Yelle. It was the fifth and last single from the album '' T'as vu'', and was released in November 2007. It was particularly successf ...
" in 2007.
The band has enjoyed success outside France despite making songs exclusively in French and have toured extensively overseas in non-French-speaking countries.
In the US, they were featured as MTV's Artist of the Week at the end of March 2008.
After touring for three years, Yelle took three months offuntil September 2009, when they began working on their next album.
By February 2010, they had started their own record label, Recreation Center, overseen by GrandMarnier.
Yelle's second album, ''Safari Disco Club
''Safari Disco Club'' is the second studio album by French electropop band Yelle. It was released on 14 March 2011 by Barclay Records. The album was promoted by the singles "Safari Disco Club", "Que veux-tu" and "Comme un enfant".
Promotion
The ...
'', was released in March 2011. Budet explained that unlike their debut, there was no deadline for the album because they were on their own label, thus allowing them to focus more on the harmonies and melodies and Budet's singing voice.[ They were also able to focus on writing and recording the album for a year as opposed to having to perform at night like for ''Pop Up''. The album received generally favourable reviews, with the '']Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independe ...
'' declaring that the album was "essential for anyone who appreciates dancefloor-friendly European synth pop." The title track was released for free on their website in January 2011 and was released as a double single with "Que veux-tu". Katy Perry asked them to open for her on her 2011 California Dreams Tour
The California Dreams Tour was the second concert tour by American singer Katy Perry, in support of her third studio album ''Teenage Dream''. The tour played 124 shows beginning February 20, 2011 in Lisbon, Portugal and concluding on January 22 ...
in the UK.[ They embarked on their own tour afterwards, returning to the US in the fall. On 11 February 2013, the band released the single "L'amour parfait".]
In July 2014, it was announced that Yelle's third studio album, '' Complètement fou'', was planned for release in late September 2014. The album was co-produced by Dr. Luke and his team of producers (Kojak, AC, Billboard Mat, Oliver, Cirkut, Jmike, Madmax), who discovered Yelle through their remix of Katy Perry
Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her campy style, she has been referred to ...
's " Hot n Cold" and a live show in Los Angeles. Dr. Luke eventually signed Yelle to his vanity label, Kemosabe Records. The album was preceded by the single "Bouquet final", for which a lyric video premiered on 30 June 2014. ''Complètement fou'' was released on 29 September 2014 through Kemosabe and followed by an extensive international tour that saw the band play at Coachella for the third time in their career as well as all over Europe, the Americas, and China. The band released a song titled "OMG!!!" on 21 August 2018 and a song titled "Je t'aime encore" on 28 April 2020.
Artistry
For their first two albums, GrandMarnier and Tepr produced the music, while Budet co-wrote the lyrics with GrandMarnier. While working on their second album and meeting with American labels, they were repeatedly queried about singing in English in the future. However, Yelle maintain that they would not be able to express themselves in a language that they were not familiar with.[ Singing French songs to many non-francophone audiences all over the world led Yelle to launch her own Yelle Translator companion app (developed by Pomp & Clout) in 2014. The app works to decode lyric videos from the album ''Complètement fou'' by letting the user choose whether they'd like to view the original French lyrics or the English translation by holding their phone up to the music video screen and selecting a language. The user is also able to toggle between the languages in real time. Their debut album ''Pop Up'', is of the electropop genre with 1980s influences.] Their lyrics are playful and sarcastic. The debut single "Je veux te voir" was a humorous reply to the misogynist lyrics of some French rappers, especially Cuizinier of TTC. For ''Safari Disco Club'', they retained the sound of ''Pop Up'' while incorporating more rhythmic drums into the production, such as Caribbean influences and new wave influences in the synthesizers.[ Budet described it as a marriage between "hotter rhythms and cooler synthesizer", highlighting the sense of humor and melancholy coexisting in the lyrics as well.][ The melancholy was attributed to Yelle having toured for three years for their first album and having that experience abruptly end to begin work on their next album.][
For their third album, ''Completement fou'', the band collaborated with American music producer, Dr. Luke. Luke and his team of producers brought a new focus on melody rather than the beats-driven approach that Yelle previously had to songwriting.]
Budet's colorful stage outfits are influenced by designers such as Jeremy Scott
Jeremy Scott (born August 8, 1975) is an American fashion designer. He is the creative director of the fashion house Moschino and the sole owner of his namesake label. Since launching his brand in Paris in 1997, Scott has built a reputation as " ...
, Andrea Crews, Jean-Paul Lespagnard and Jean-Charles de Castelbajac.
Discography
Studio albums
Extended plays
Singles
As lead artist
As featured artist
Music videos
Guest appearances
Notes
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Yelle
2005 establishments in France
Electronic music duos
Electropop groups
Caroline Records artists
French electronic music groups
French musical duos
French pop music groups
French synthpop groups
Musical groups established in 2005
Kitsuné artists
Because Music artists