Isolde Lasoen - Oh Dear
Isolde Lasoen, in Belgium most know as drummer in bands like DAAN and Absynthe Minded, also has her solo project. As a singer, drummer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, writer, arranger, she’s a real DIY and independent artist.
Isolde’s music is full of psychedelic melodies, epic-feeling compositions, dramatic chords and orchestral string arrangements. Less is more, except in music.
It’s pretty difficult to file the album under one particular genre, then. Or is it? ‘This record IS my style. Every song has its own Isolde-like little world’, she says about the album’s 10 tracks, ranging from jazzy, melancholic and groovy to poppy and everything in between. The songs have the cinematic feel of Morricone, Mancini, François De Roubaix or early John Barry and evoke the obscure baroque pop of David Axelrod, suffused with a hint of indie à la Goldfrapp, Air or Sebastien Tellier. The opening and title track is nostalgic and atmospheric indie that has Isolde written all over it. The moving and symphonic ‘Douce Mélancolie’, starring French cult artist Bertrand Burgalat, not only seduced Belgium, but also France, where it reached the biggest radio stations and the homepage of influential music magazine ‘Les Inrocks’. ‘Oh Dear’ is packed with treasures like these, and lush instrumentals like ‘Bed & Breakfast’ and ‘Capricorn Avenue’ sit next to brilliant pop gems like ‘Something French’ and ‘Batterie’, with an irresistible parlando by DAAN, evoking the spirit of Gainsbourg.
