Circuit Des Yeux

Chicago-based performer and multi-instrumentalist Haley Fohr channels her primary creative outlet through Circuit des Yeux, producing atmospheric and psychologically layered compositions that probe fundamental aspects of existence. Built upon Fohr’s commanding four-octave vocal range and her distinctive approach to 12-string guitar, the project progressed from raw, distortion-heavy lo-fi origins toward meticulously scored full-length works, notably 2015’s In Plain Speech and 2017’s Reaching for Indigo, both of which earned widespread critical praise. Fohr simultaneously explored a contrasting, imagination-driven persona under the name Jackie Lynn, merging country, disco, and synth-pop elements. In 2021 Circuit des Yeux resurfaced with -io, an expansive recording featuring orchestral scoring performed by more than a dozen players drawn from Chicago’s jazz, classical, and experimental communities.

Originally from Indiana, Fohr launched her experimental indie-folk endeavor Circuit des Yeux in 2007, composing and home-recording unsettling, dreamlike atonal works saturated in distortion and analog noise. The limited-edition debut LP Symphone appeared via De Stijl in 2008; the following year brought the wider-distributed Sirenum on the same imprint along with a 7" single issued by Dull Knife Records. Ode to Fidelity, a three-track 7" EP released on De Stijl in 2010, marked Fohr’s pivot toward structured songwriting that foregrounded her resonant, haunting delivery and unsettling lyricism. The third album, Portrait, followed on De Stijl in 2011 with noticeably improved fidelity and included a live, dirge-style reinterpretation of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire.”

After completing her degree in 2012, Fohr relocated from Bloomington, Indiana, to Chicago and began working with musicians across the city’s extensive artistic networks. Early evidence of these partnerships surfaced in 2013 with CDY3, a 10" EP on Magnetic South that documented a trio configuration of Circuit des Yeux featuring bassist Greg Simpson and drummer Clarke Joyner alongside Fohr. Cooper Crain of Cave and Bitchin Bajas produced the fourth album, Overdue, which Fohr issued herself with assistance from Brooklyn’s Ba Da Bing Records; the release continued her artistic development through introspective folk material alongside intense experimental passages.

Throughout 2014 Circuit des Yeux performed more than one hundred concerts alongside various folk and experimental artists, among them Loren Connors, Sir Richard Bishop, and Bill Callahan. Late that year Fohr supplied vocals for The Voice Rolling, an Immune Recordings album by Mind Over Mirrors, Jaime Fennelly’s synthesizer-and-harmonium experimental ambient project formerly of Peeesseye; the pair also toured together. Shortly thereafter Circuit des Yeux joined the roster of Chicago’s Thrill Jockey label, which issued the richly orchestrated fifth album In Plain Speech in May 2015. The same imprint released the self-titled debut album by Fohr’s Jackie Lynn persona in 2016.

Fohr subsequently moved to Drag City for the sixth Circuit des Yeux full-length, Reaching for Indigo, which appeared in 2017. U.S. Girls’ Meg Remy directed the video accompanying lead single “Paper Bag.” A live document, Reaching for Indigo: Gaia Infinitus, emerged in 2019. Fohr revived the Jackie Lynn identity with Jacqueline in 2020 before Circuit des Yeux issued the self-arranged and produced -io on Matador in 2021.