Autour de Lucie

Autour de Lucie, a French pop ensemble, first assembled in Paris at the start of 1993 when Valérie Leulliot, an angelic chanteuse, crossed paths with guitarist Olivier Durand during a stretch of temporary employment. Opting to channel their energies into music rather than routine labor, the pair formed a band modeled on artists they admired, adding bassist Fabrice Dumont to the lineup later that spring. A recording contract with Le Village Vert soon followed, paving the way for the release of their debut album L'Échapée Belle in 1994. Personnel shifts arrived rapidly over the ensuing three years, with Jean-Pierre Ensuque stepping in to replace Durand on guitar in 1995. The following year the group moved to Nettwerk and delivered its second album, Immobile, in 1997. Extensive international touring and an appearance at Lilith Fair in 1998 helped build a devoted audience drawn to the band’s distinctive European sensibility and to Leulliot’s poised stage presence. With the arrival of the new millennium, Autour de Lucie presented a noticeably more seasoned and spiritually attuned identity; percussionist Sébastien Buffet joined in time to help record and release the poetically dramatic Faux Mouvement in early 2001.