Camille

International notice first reached French pop singer Camille through her role in the acclaimed Nouvelle Vague collective before she returned to individual work. Born Camille Dalmais in Paris in 1978, she devoted her teenage years to ballet while cultivating deep interests in bossa nova and American stage musicals. At age 16 she sang her own composition “Un Homme Déserté” at a wedding, an experience that prompted her to pursue songwriting under the sway of 1960s folk and 1970s soul. While studying voice, she began performing in Paris jazz venues; in 2001 she made her screen debut in the film Les Morsures de l’Aube and placed the track “La Vie la Nuit” on its soundtrack. Around the same period her demo began circulating, leading to a contract with the Virgin imprint Source and the release of her 2002 debut album Le Sac de Filles, whose success was anchored by the single “Demeure d’un Ciel.”

In April 2004 Camille joined producers Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux for Nouvelle Vague, a project devoted to bossa-nova-styled reinterpretations of new-wave and post-punk material. She supplied four lead vocals on the album, among them versions of the Clash’s “The Guns of Brixton” and the Dead Kennedys’ “Too Drunk to Fuck,” and joined the ensuing European tour. She resumed solo activity in early 2005 with Le Fil, which approached the upper reaches of the French album chart on the strength of its opening single “Ta Douleur.” The record later received the Victoires de la Musique Award for Best New Album of the Year, and Camille was also named Breakthrough Live Act. Shortly afterward she issued the concert recording Live au Trianon. Two years later she reworked Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols and assembled the a cappella collection God Is Sound, drawing material from varied faiths and nations; both projects were presented during a tour of French churches. She also wrote “Le Festin” for Pixar’s 2007 feature Ratatouille and supplied the French-speaking voice of Colette in the film’s local dub.

For the 2008 album Music Hole, Camille drew on gospel and R&B while employing her own body as percussion. The following year she received the Victoire de la Musique Award for Female Singer of the Year. She rejoined Nouvelle Vague for their 2010 release Couleurs sur Paris and appeared on Jérôme Van Den Hole’s self-titled album. On 2011’s Ilo Veyou she adopted a leaner sonic palette than on Music Hole, blending folk, pop, and chanson elements reminiscent of Le Fil. Her recordings featured in the 2015 animated film The Little Prince, and her fifth studio album, Oui, appeared in 2017 on Because Music. Captured inside a fourteenth-century monastery, the record explored the multiple resonances of the words “oui” (“yes”) and “l’ouï” (“hearing”).