Jamaica

Jamaica is an electro-tinged French indie rock duo from Paris comprised of Antoine Hilaire on vocals and guitar alongside Flo Lyonnet handling bass and vocals. The pair operated for several years under the name Poney Poney before adopting the moniker Jamaica in 2009. Their earliest commercial release arrived in 2006 as Poney Poney with the split single “Junior” on Arcade Mode, produced by Xavier de Rosnay of the Ed Banger Records act Justice. Subsequent Poney Poney output included the Cross the Fader EP on Perspex Recordings in 2008 and the When Do You Wanna Stop Working? EP on Institubes in 2009. After the name change, Hilaire and Lyonnet issued their first single as Jamaica, “I Think I Like U 2,” via Cooperative Music in 2010, while “Short and Entertaining” appeared on Kitsuné Maison Compilation 9 at roughly the same time. Their debut full-length album, No Problem, followed later that year; produced by de Rosnay and Peter Franco, it contained reworked versions of “Cross the Fader” plus additional earlier Poney Poney tracks. Jamaica’s second album, Ventura, surfaced in 2014 after partial recording in a rented house on Ventura Boulevard in Los Angeles and further sessions in Paris with Laurent d’Herbecourt.