DeLaurentis's music is an irresistible fusion of analog electronics, mid-century "minimalism," and a modern sensibility probing and questioning our life in the electronic age. Her blending of styles and tonal colors mesh perfectly with the themes of alienation, existentialism, and modern ennui expressed in the lyrics.
When Daft Punk announced their retirement in early 2021, it seemed like the end of an era for electronica. With the genre increasingly tending towards pure EDM, it didn't seem like anyone was there to step up and provide smart, progressive, classically-influenced electronic music.
Then we discovered DeLaurentis.
For the past few years, this rising French star had been gaining listeners in Europe. Now, she's ready to hit the mainstream. A series of singles across 2021, leading up to the planned September 2021 release of her first full-length album Unica, has put her in the perfect position to keep moving forward with what Daft Punk began.
She wears her influences on her sleeve. Her newest track, "Be A Woman" is driven by arpeggios reminescent of Philip Glass, along with haunting oohs and aahs layered on top. Her choice of synth tones and voices are rich and vibrant, pulling directly from the analog history of early electronics. Names like Tomita and Vangelis will also easily spring to mind.
However, rather than merely imitating past pioneers, she's moving forward. Her compositions are complex and layered. She effortlessly moves from simple backing lines to heavy polyphonic sounds, creating a rich dynamicism throughout her recent tracks.
Likewise, her vocals run the gamut. Depending on the tone and mood, they can be clean and pure, or run through vocoder-style processes - such as in "Pegasus" - to create mechanical impressions. At points, her songs even start to resemble Japanese vocaloids. The idea of man and machine merging run throughout her work.
On the other hand "Life" creates a rich wall of sound that brings to mind some of Hans Zimmer's more electronic-focused works, such as his booming score to Blade Runner 2049. Few artists we've heard are so adept at fusing 50+ years of electronic music development into a single cohesive whole.
Exploring her back catalog on her YouTube channel reveals more of her influences. She has released a range of covers, including modernized updates of concert hall staples like Satie's "Gymnopedie No. 1" and Ravel's "Bolero," as well as covers of Vangelis, Daft Punk, Ryuchi Sakamoto, Portishead, and a particularly impressive vocal update of Mike Oldfield's classic "Tubular Bells."
Her work has had such an immediate impact that it allowed her to shoot almost instantly to prominence in France. Her music has already been featured in several television commercials, as well as prominent use in the TV series "How To Get Away With Murder." Her fusion of human and machine, light and dark, organic and synthetic turns her music into an expressive soundtrack of the now, expressing the confusion of modern digital life.
DeLaurentis is one of the most exciting and interesting new artists to hit the electronica scene in years. Now is the perfect opportunity to dig into her early work, while looking forward to the full release of Unica later this year.
DeLaurentis has been #FoundByRound
