Woodkid

Yoann Lemoine, known professionally as Woodkid, merges expansive sonic architecture and sweeping visual concepts with a persistent pull toward the marvel and purity of early years. His parallel achievements directing clips for Lana Del Rey, Drake, and Rihanna led him to craft an introspective, refined sound that fuses opulent orchestral layers, austere electronic textures, and exposed singing, first surfacing on the 2011 Iron EP. Those internal tensions acquired a personal dimension on the 2013 album The Golden Age, a worldwide charting release that yielded the track “Run Boy Run,” whose self-directed clip earned Lemoine a Grammy nomination. Although new Woodkid material surfaced only sporadically—a “Woodkid Sad Remix” of Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” surfaced in 2014, followed five years later by the EP Woodkid for Nicolas Ghesquière: Louis Vuitton Works One—these works remained sharply distinctive, a quality reaffirmed by the 2020 album S16 and its demonstration of Lemoine’s singular approach.

Lemoine entered the world in Lyon, France, in 1983 and trained in illustration and animation at the Emile Cohl School, later contributing to Luc Besson’s Arthur and the Invisibles as well as Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. While creating promotional videos for Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream,” Taylor Swift’s “Back to December,” and Lana Del Rey’s “Born to Die” and “Blue Jeans,” he prepared Woodkid’s first EP. Green United Music issued Iron in March 2011; its title track soon appeared in multiple film trailers and an installment of Teen Wolf. The 2012 single “Run Boy Run,” which Lemoine also directed, peaked just outside the U.K. Top 40, secured an MVPA Award for Best Director of the Year, and received a Grammy nomination for Best Music Video. European charts also registered a collection of “Run Boy Run” remixes featuring a version by French producer SebastiAn.

The Golden Age, Woodkid’s debut full-length, reached stores in March 2013. The record, whose songs trace a boy’s transformation into stone and draw directly from Lemoine’s own upbringing, earned largely positive critical notices and solid sales, climbing to number two on the French album charts while entering the Top Ten in Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland. Supporting dates included a landmark concert at London’s Brixton Academy backed by the BBC Orchestra. During 2014 Lemoine accepted an invitation to perform and discuss the New York minimalist movement with Philip Glass at the Museum of Modern Art in Saint-Étienne, released “Happy (Woodkid Sad Remix),” accepted the Best Stage Performer prize at Les Victoires de la Musique, and appeared at both Coachella and the Montreal International Jazz Festival—all before July. He further composed the score for Les Bosquets, a New York City Ballet production featuring jookin dancer Young Buck, conceived and directed by photographer JR.

Another Grammy nomination for Best Music Video arrived in 2015 for “The Golden Age” featuring Max Richter, though the award went to Pharrell Williams’ “Happy.” That same year the Jonás Cuarón thriller Desierto, scored by Lemoine, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. July 2016 brought a collaboration with pianist Nils Frahm on the soundtrack for JR’s short film Ellis; later that month Lemoine staged an inventive set at the Montreux Jazz Festival that included guests Elle Fanning, Son Lux, and Grizzly Bear’s Ed Droste. “Run Boy Run” resurfaced in a 2017 episode of the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why.

Island Records released the 2019 EP Woodkid for Nicolas Ghesquière: Louis Vuitton Works One, which incorporated a spoken contribution from Jennifer Connelly. October 2020 saw the arrival of S16, Woodkid’s second album, another richly textured collection whose string arrangements were captured at Abbey Road.