Biography
Coralie Clément's vocal style calls to mind the French pop singers of the 1960s like Jane Birkin and Francoise Hardy, filtered through the light, airy bossa nova phrasing of Astrud Gilberto and standing apart from artists of her own era. Her debut arrived in 2002 under the title Salle des Pas Perdus. The project grew out of a close partnership with her brother Benjamin Biolay, the author, composer, and performer who wrote and arranged every one of the twelve songs.
She grew up in a musical household in Villefranche-sur-Saone, France. By age three Coralie could already name every instrument in the orchestra, began formal study of musical theory at five, and started violin lessons at six. She never thought of herself as a singer. During adolescence she absorbed the recordings of Serge Gainsbourg, Birkin, Hardy, the Beatles, and, unexpectedly, Vanessa Paradis. Calling herself a "groupie" of her brother's, she learned all his compositions and began reworking them, lending his poetic ballads a blend of sensual melancholy and playfulness. Biolay discovered this only later, during a Paris visit, when she sang the songs back to him while he played guitar. He captured the impromptu performance, and that recording became her first album.
She grew up in a musical household in Villefranche-sur-Saone, France. By age three Coralie could already name every instrument in the orchestra, began formal study of musical theory at five, and started violin lessons at six. She never thought of herself as a singer. During adolescence she absorbed the recordings of Serge Gainsbourg, Birkin, Hardy, the Beatles, and, unexpectedly, Vanessa Paradis. Calling herself a "groupie" of her brother's, she learned all his compositions and began reworking them, lending his poetic ballads a blend of sensual melancholy and playfulness. Biolay discovered this only later, during a Paris visit, when she sang the songs back to him while he played guitar. He captured the impromptu performance, and that recording became her first album.