Fabienne Delsol

Rock & roll chanteuse Fabienne Delsol had made a name for herself with music that combines one part French pop and two parts classic British Beat. Delsol was born and raised in Limoges, a city in central France best known from producing porcelain and oak barrels; she was more interested in music, particularly rock & roll and Serge Gainsbourg, so in 1996 she moved to London. Delsol soon struck up a friendship with Liam Watson, a producer and engineer best known as one of the founders of Toe Rag Studios, an analog recording facility favored by many on the London garage and beat revival scenes. Watson was helping assemble a new U.K. garage group, and while Delsol didn’t have much experience as a vocalist, he persuaded her to audition. Watson liked what he heard, and Delsol quickly became the lead singer with the Bristols, alongside drummer Bruce Brand, guitarist Owen Thomas, and bassist Parsley; they earned an estimable reputation on the U.K. garage scene and released three singles and two LPs before splitting up in 2003. Delsol wasted no time establishing a solo career after the breakup; with Watson producing, she released her first solo album, No Time For Sorrows, in the fall of 2004. The album was dominated by a more polished pop/rock sound than the Bristols, with hints of psychedelia and one tune in French. The album was successful enough to prompt the release of The Best of Fabienne Delsol and the Bristols, which featured material from her old band along with a smattering of her solo work. Delsol followed the lead of her first solo effort on second LP, 2007’s Between You and Me, which included three songs en français and more lively, sophisticated retro-pop and garage rock. The psychedelic side of Delsol's pop influences became a bit more prominent on her third solo effort, On My Mind, which was released in the fall of 2010.