Lizzy Mercier Descloux

A multi-disciplinary creator spanning music, verse, visual art, literature, and performance, Lizzy Mercier Descloux carved an unpredictable path through sound that mirrored the breadth of her pursuits, helping shape New York’s no wave movement while later blending African percussion traditions with R&B and pop textures well before worldbeat entered industry parlance. Born in Paris, France, on December 16, 1956, she pursued artistic studies during adolescence and began a relationship with Michel Esteban, another devotee of forward-thinking music. Esteban operated the new wave shop Harry Cover directly opposite her residence, and the pair founded the publication Rock News to chronicle the emerging punk and new wave currents. In 1976 the two relocated from Paris to New York City; there Esteban took a post at John Cale’s Spy Records while Mercier Descloux developed a close bond with Patti Smith, resulting in the co-authored poetry collection Desiderata that also included work from Richard Hell. After Esteban ended their romantic involvement—maintaining that love and professional partnership could not coexist—Hell became her partner, yet she and Esteban sustained an enduring friendship.

Drawn from observer to participant like many in the city’s downtown circles, Mercier Descloux purchased a guitar and assembled the brief-lived group Rosa Yemen. Convinced of her promise, Esteban signed the band to ZE Records, the label he established with Michael Zilkha; their EP attracted scant notice, yet ZE retained her as a solo act once the group dissolved. The 1979 solo debut Press Color offered an expansive stylistic range, uniting sleek dance rhythms with stark, economical guitar figures and unconventional vocal harmonies. Although ZE’s distribution arrangement with Buddah Records (itself handled by Arista) placed the album in major channels, it received minimal promotional support and sold poorly in the United States. European critics responded warmly, however, prompting Island Records chief Chris Blackwell to finance sessions at Compass Point Studios in Nassau for her follow-up. Having immersed herself in traditional African music, Mercier Descloux enlisted keyboardist and producer Wally Badarou to shape 1981’s Mambo Nassau, a dense fusion of African elements, alternative rock, and American funk and soul. Domestic listeners remained indifferent, but the record succeeded in France, securing her a contract with the local CBS affiliate.

Determined to experience African traditions directly, she traveled from Ethiopia through South Africa, contravening apartheid statutes to collaborate with leading Soweto musicians. Two CBS singles—“Mister Soweto” b/w “Don't You Try to Stop Me” and “Maita” b/w “Les Baisers d'Amants,” the latter her first French-language release—preceded the 1984 album Zulu Rock, whose South African rhythmic foundations anticipated Paul Simon’s Graceland by two years and yielded the major French hit “Mais où Sont Passées les Gazelles?” Planning a New Orleans project that would unite local Cajun and zydeco players with her Soweto colleagues, she was thwarted when South African officials denied the necessary visas; instead she recorded 1986’s One for the Soul in Rio de Janeiro with producer Adam Kidron and Brazilian musicians, featuring guest appearances by jazz legend Chet Baker. Issued on Polydor, the album failed to replicate Zulu Rock’s commercial or critical impact, though it later gained recognition as one of her finest achievements. The 1988 release Suspense, tracked in England with partial production by former Mars member Mark Cunningham—an acquaintance from her New York years—passed largely unnoticed, and a subsequent 1995 New York recording remained unreleased.

With her musical momentum stalled, Mercier Descloux settled in Corsica, reviving her focus on painting and completing the unpublished novel Buenaventura. She continued contributing brief compositions to film scores until receiving a cancer diagnosis in 2003. Despite maintaining an optimistic outlook during treatment, she died on April 20, 2004, at age 47. Michel Esteban has since overseen reissues that keep her catalog visible, most notably a 2015 collaboration with Light in the Attic presenting remastered editions of her five lifetime albums.