Appropriately birth-named France Poulet is a 28-year-old musician from the French Republic who performs under the name Owlle (a feminized version of Owl) and her wise and knowledgeable debut album encapsulates everything great about modern alternative edgy side to pop. Even when she ventures into her most commercial side (Don't Lose It and Ticky Ticky, My Light Is Gone), they maintain a likeability factor that adds substance and quality to the album. She is a by-product of the current youthful inspiration around her, which she grabs intuitively and fuses together as a celebration of this exciting scene. Her indie blog status soared through her appreciation of other musicians in the form of covers of Depeche Mode's Heaven and The Zombie's She's Not There.

 

Like her semi-naked album cover, she expresses her inspiration freely and openly. On the majority of the album she bears resemblance to the strong vocals of Zola Jesus, and the brave creative freedoms of Grimes but there are other muses that need addressing

 

With a background at the prestigious School of Fine Arts in Toulouse, she was always going to have an artistic mindset and the album starts off immediately impressive with otherworldly electronics of Fog that point towards Fever Ray whilst building up steadily like a MSMR beat.Like A Boy is her approach to dub-step whilst Your Eyes and Free are lost tracks from Banks's Goddess. 9 is an admirable mimic of Polica's cold and distant reverberated soundscapes. Silence and Disorder are great examples of great and memorable lyrical content ("It's not an amazing dream, so I'll go back to sleep") and show her widespread music consumption from Jungle and Two Door Cinema Club. 

 

"Ticky Ticky" and "Don't Lose It" have the potential to rise her to a much popular status without losing her creditability as a creative artist.

 

The biggest highlight is the latest single Creed,  which along with it's challenging music video, is a perfect accompaniment to conceptualizing the idea that everybody has their own belief systems and should stay true to themselves. "To whom are you true/you've got a creed/it's not a crime," she semi-raps with drum machines and a wave of synthesizer energy that runs through the veins of the track.It's a definite ode to the playful Pilgrim from Norway's Mo. Both artists have a remix nature about them of which they share the same controlled bedroom-music-creating philosophy of an eccentric heart that makes them consistently want to mould with beats like plasticine. It's a creed they should be proud of because they are in it for the creative pleasure rather than the big bucks.

 

Maybe on the next album we will hear something more uniquely hers but sometimes it's just the moment, it's worth savouring the blended  fusion on show. MTH