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Alice Phoebe Lou

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Alice Phoebe Lou
Lou performing at the Rudolstadt-Festival 2019
Lou performing at the Rudolstadt-Festival 2019
Background information
Birth nameAlice Matthew[1]
Born (1993-07-19) 19 July 1993 (age 31)
OriginKommetjie, Cape Town, South Africa
Genres
OccupationSinger-songwriter
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • piano
Years active2013–present
Member ofStrongboi
Websitealicephoebelou.com

Alice Phoebe Lou (born 19 July 1993 as Alice Matthew) is a South African singer-songwriter based in Berlin, Germany. She has released five self-funded studio albums to date — Orbit (2016), Paper Castles (2019), Glow (2021), Child's Play (2021) and Shelter (2023) — alongside two live albums, three EPs and various singles.

Since 2019, she has also been active in her side project called Strongboi, a duo which features her keyboard player from her band.[2]

Early life

[edit]

Lou spent her childhood in Kommetjie on west coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa and attended a Waldorf school.[3] Her parents are documentary filmmakers.[3] She took piano and guitar lessons as a child.[4][5] When she was 14 years old she was fond of trance music and started to take photographs from concerts, sometimes getting paid for them.[6] In 2010, she spent her summer holiday in Paris living first with her aunt but soon moved to live with a friend and started earning money by fire-dancing.[4] She has two younger brothers who are twins and grew up listening to Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, The Velvet Underground and Portishead.[7] Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, she would spend 4 months every year in South Africa visiting with family and friends. She has lived in Berlin, Germany, since she was 19 years old.[8] She resides in Neukölln.[9]

Alice Phoebe Lou performing with her band at Warschauer Straße Station, Berlin in 2016
Alice Phoebe Lou performing with her band at Warschauer Straße Station, Berlin in 2016

Career

[edit]
Alice Phoebe Lou at Oval Space, Thursday 30 September 2021

She took a gap year after graduating from high school in South Africa in 2012, and settled in Europe, first to Amsterdam and then to Berlin.[4] In Berlin, she started to sing and play guitar as she found out that this was more lucrative than fire-dancing.[4] After her gap year she contemplated attending university in South Africa,[10] but eventually decided to purchase a battery powered amplifier and return to Berlin instead.[4] In Berlin, she performed on S- and U-Bahn stations and parks.[4][11] After one month in Berlin, she played on a television programme.[12] In April 2014 she self-released "Momentum" EP.[13] The song "Fiery Heart, Fiery Mind" from the EP featured in the soundtrack of the 2015 released film "Ayanda".[14] She also started to play in venues.

After a performance at TEDx in Berlin on 6 September 2014[15][16] she started to get offers from record labels, but she wanted to stay independent.[4][5][17] In December 2014 she released a live album "Live at Grüner Salon" as a means to fund the recording of her debut studio album.[18]

In 2015, she started to tour and played first time at SXSW festival in USA in 2015.[18] She returned to SXSW every year after that until 2019.[19][20][21][22] She also performed in TEDGlobal London in 2015 and opened for Rodriguez on their 2016 South Africa tour.[23][24]

In April 2016, Alice Phoebe Lou released her debut album "Orbit", produced by Matteo Pavesi and Jian Kellett-Liew.[5][25][17] She was nominated for best female artist at the 2016 German critics choice awards in Germany[26] and was invited to several German TV programs for interviews and performances.[27][28] She toured in Europe, South Africa and USA in 2016 and played three sold-out shows at the Berlin Planetarium.[29][30] Moreover, she still continued busking in Berlin.[31]

In December 2017, she self-released nine track "Sola" EP and a book titled "Songs, poems and memories".[32][33][34] The same month it was announced that her song "She" from the film Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story is on the shortlist for Academy Awards' Oscars in Best Original Song category.[35] "She" was released as a digital single in 2018 with a music video directed by Natalia Bazina.[36] In 2018 edition of the Berlin Music Video Awards, Lou's music video ''She'' was nominated for Best Song.[37] "She" also features significantly in two scenes of the German Film Kokon, which was released on 21 February 2020 (When 'Nora' and 'Romy' are on the roof of a building, listening to music; and at the end, as 'Nora' finds her Caterpillar has metamorphosed into its adult form). During 2018 Alice Phoebe Lou toured Europe, USA, South Africa, Japan and Canada.[38]

Alice Phoebe Lou at Funkhaus Berlin on 1 December 2018

The first single Something Holy from her Paper Castles album was released on 30 November 2018.[39][40] On 15 January 2019, the second single, Skin Crawl, was released digitally.[41] The video of Skin Crawl won in June third prize at the Berlin Music Video Awards in the best concept category.[42] On 15 February third single, Galaxies, was released and on 8 March 2019 the album was released.[43][44][45]

In March 2019, Alice was the artist of the month of Consequence of Sound.[46] On 6 May Galaxies video filmed in Zeiss Planetarium in Berlin featuring Maisie Williams was released.[47]

On 12 July A Place of My Own (Mahogany Sessions) EP containing four songs from Paper Castles album recorded live was released in digital format accompanied by a YouTube video of the recording session.[48] On 7 August video for the Lost in LA was published. The song is from her Sola EP.[2]

On 15 November Alice was interviewed in aspekte-program of German ZDF TV and she performed Paper Castles with her band.[49]

In December Paper Castles album was listed at number 19 in the NBHAP magazine's 50 best albums of 2019 list[50] and 7th in FMS magazine's top 35 albums and EPs of 2019 list.[51]

During 2019, she had over one hundred concerts in Europe, Japan, USA and Canada.[52][53][54] For example, she performed on 30 May 2019 first time at the main stage of Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona. Later that day she had another smaller concert at the OCB Paper Sessions stage.[55][56] On 28 February 2020 German TV Bayerischer Rundfunk broadcast and streamed her PULS-festival concert recorded on 30 November 2019 in Munich.[57] In spite of extensive touring Lou still continued to occasionally perform in Berlin parks and U-Bahn stations too.[57] In spring 2020 she had a short Europe tour[58] and after that several streamed and broadcast concerts, for example on Arte.[59][60]

On 13 March 2020, she released Witches single.[61] Week before that, on 6 March, self-titled video Strongboi was released by her Strongboi side project with Ziv Yamin. The digital single of the song was released on 20 March.[62] This was followed by Strongboi's Honey Thighs digital single on 10 April[63] and Tuff Girl on 7 August.[64]

On 1 May she released ten track live album Live at Funkhaus from the December 2019 Funkhaus Berlin concert. Further, a short documentary filmed and directed by Julian Culverhouse about Paper Castles tour was published.[65] On 26 June Touch single was released.[66][67] A purple 7 inch vinyl containing Witches and Touch was released on 18 September.[68]

In November it was announced that her third studio album titled Glow would be released in March 2021.[68] On 4 December single and video of Dusk from the coming Glow-album was released.[69] On 10 December 2020, Alice covered Paul McCartney's unreleased track Deep Deep Feeling for McCartney's ’12 Days of Paul’ campaign.[70] On 19 February 2021, second single Dirty Mouth was released from the upcoming album with a music video.[71] Glow was released on 19 March 2021.[72][73]

On 2 December 2021, she released the ten track album Child's Play without any advance announcements.[74][75]

On 25 February 2022, while she was touring in west coast of USA,[76] her side project Strongboi released new song Fool Around.[77] Strongboi released in 2022 two further singles, Unconditional and Cold from their coming debut album Strongboi that was released on 17 February 2023.[78]

She continued touring through the summer of 2022, and in autumn she had a North America tour supporting Billy Bragg.[79] Touring continued in 2023 and on 10 March 2023 the title track Shelter of her coming album was released as a single in digital formats followed by a music video about month later.[80] The second single, Open My Door, was released digitally on 28 April 2023[81] and the third one, Lose My Head on 2 June 2023.[82] Shelter album was released on 7 July 2023.[83]

Discography

[edit]

Studio albums

[edit]
Title Album details
Orbit
  • Released: 2016
  • Label: self-released
  • Format: vinyl, CD
Paper Castles [84]
  • Released: 8 March 2019
  • Label: self-released
  • Format: vinyl, CD
  • Paper Castles
Glow [72][73]
  • Released: 19 March 2021
  • Label: self-released
  • Format: CD, digital download, streaming, vinyl
Child's Play [74][75]
  • Released: 2 December 2021
  • Label: self-released
  • Format: CD, digital download, streaming, cassette, vinyl
Shelter [83]
  • Released: 7 July 2023
  • Label: self-released
  • Format: CD, digital download, streaming, vinyl

Extended plays

[edit]
Title EP details
Momentum
  • Released: 2014
  • Label: self-released
  • self-made CDs were sold at performances,[46] mp3 version has not been available after her website shop renewal in 2019
Sola
  • Released: 2017
  • Label: self-released
  • Format: 12 inch vinyl, mp3
A Place of My Own (Mahogany Sessions)[48]
  • Released: 2019
  • Label: self-released
  • Format: digital download, streaming

Live albums

[edit]
Title Album details
Live at Grüner Salon
  • Released: 2014
  • Label: self-released
  • self-made CDs were sold at performances,[46] mp3 version has not been available after her website shop renewal in 2019
Live at Funkhaus [65]
  • Released: 1 May 2020
  • Label: self-released
  • Format: vinyl, digital download, streaming

Vinyl singles

[edit]
  • Something Holy (Single, 2018, 7 inch, instrumental version on B-side)
  • Witches/Touch (Single, 2020, 7 inch vinyl and mp3/wav, double sided A single)

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Alice Phoebe Lou unveils 'Fiery Heart, Fiery Mind' video". nbhap.com. 17 July 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Who is Alice Phoebe Lou? Not your indie dreamgirl". documentjournal.com. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  3. ^ a b Emminghaus, Sarah (12 May 2015). "Straßenmusikerin Alice Phoebe Lou - Freiheit, Wünsche, große Träume". Die Tageszeitung: Taz. taz.de. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Alice Phoebe Lou: Berlin's best-kept secret". cafebabel.com. 11 June 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  5. ^ a b c "Porträt der Songwriterin Alice Phoebe Lou Freiheitsliebe und ein dickes Fell". tagesspiegel.de. 13 May 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  6. ^ "Jag kunde förlorat rörligheten i mina fingrar". gaffa.se. 15 October 2015. Archived from the original on 22 March 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  7. ^ Staff Reporter (7 April 2015). "Alice Phoebe Lou sees street music as a gift". The Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  8. ^ Interviews, Clash Magazine Music News, Reviews &; ClashMusic (17 April 2024). "Moving Home: Alice Phoebe Lou Interviewed | Features". Clash Magazine Music News, Reviews & Interviews. Retrieved 12 July 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ Pailler, Robin (19 March 2021). "In Conversation with Alice Phoebe Lou". Wasted Talent Magazine. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  10. ^ "With the Artist: Alice Phoebe Lou". stalker.smagazine.com. 1 November 2016. Archived from the original on 24 December 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  11. ^ "Alice Phoebe Lou sees street music as a gift". Mail & Guardian. 7 April 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  12. ^ "Frühstücksfernsehen Casting: Alice Phoebe Lou". sat1.de. 21 June 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  13. ^ ""Momentum"-EP-Release". last.fm. 10 April 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  14. ^ "AYANDA - DIFF". mahala.co.za. 17 July 2015. Archived from the original on 24 December 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  15. ^ "Performance - Alice Phoebe Lou - TEDxBerlin". tedxberlin.de. Archived from the original on 24 December 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  16. ^ "Alice Phoebe Lou: SA's viral star who's anything but a sell-out". channel24.co.za. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  17. ^ a b "Ground Level: An Interview with Alice Phoebe Lou". thefourohfive.com. 3 June 2016. Archived from the original on 24 December 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  18. ^ a b "SXSW 2015 Schedule - Alice Phoebe Lou". sxsw.com. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  19. ^ "SXSW 2016 Schedule - Alice Phoebe Lou". sxsw.com. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  20. ^ "SXSW 2017 Schedule - Alice Phoebe Lou". sxsw.com. Archived from the original on 24 December 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  21. ^ "SXSW 2018 Schedule - Alice Phoebe Lou". sxsw.com. Archived from the original on 28 March 2018. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  22. ^ "SXSW 2019 Schedule - Alice Phoebe Lou". sxsw.com. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  23. ^ "Soaring imaginations, harsh realities: A recap of TEDGlobal>London". ted.com. 16 June 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  24. ^ "Alice Phoebe Lou to open for Rodriguez during SA tour". channel24.co.za. 15 January 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  25. ^ "Alice Phoebe Lou: Orbit - A quietly cathartic artistic piece of soundscape". texxandthecity.com. 25 April 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  26. ^ "Das sind die Gewinner des "Preis für Popkultur" 2016". musikexpress.de. 10 September 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  27. ^ "Alice Phoebe Lou - NDR Kultur Neo". NDR. 9 May 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  28. ^ "Inas Nacht Folge 6". daserste.de. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  29. ^ "Alice Phoebe Lou reveals debut album 'Orbit' + Euro tour 2016". withguitars.com. 22 April 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  30. ^ "From The Streets To The Stars: Alice Phoebe Lou, A Role Model for Modern Musicianship". nbhap.com. 16 December 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  31. ^ ""Ich will meine Unabhängigkeit bewahren"". morgenpost.de. 27 June 2016. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  32. ^ "EP Sola vinyl". alicephoebelou.com. Archived from the original on 24 December 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  33. ^ "Song book from Alice". alicephoebelou.com. Archived from the original on 4 July 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  34. ^ "Alice Phoebe Lou is not afraid to bare her soul". iol.co.za. 25 April 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  35. ^ "70 original songs vie 2017 Oscar". oscars.org. 18 December 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  36. ^ Boilen, Bob (22 February 2018). "Alice Phoebe Lou Dives Deep In The Ethereal 'She' Video". NPR. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  37. ^ Berlin Music Video Awards (22 April 2021). "Berlin Music Video Awards 2018 Nominees". www.berlinmva.com.
  38. ^ "Interview with Alice Phoebe Lou about "Orbit"". neol.jp. 13 August 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  39. ^ "Alice Phoebe Lou 'Something Holy'". girlundergroundmusic.com. 7 December 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  40. ^ "Alice Phoebe Lou releases first single from new album, announces international tour in support". withguitars.com. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  41. ^ "Alice Phoebe Lou's "Skin Crawl" is a song you need to hear today". thefader.com. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  42. ^ "Winners BMVAs 2019!". berlinmva.com. Archived from the original on 4 June 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  43. ^ "Young Independent Woman: Alice Phoebe Lou On Her Life As A Female Songwriter". nbhap.com. 8 August 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  44. ^ "Alice Phoebe Lou Finds Her True Self on the Intoxicating Paper Castles". Consequence. 7 March 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  45. ^ "Spill album review: Alice Phoebe Lou - Paper Castles". The Spill Magazine. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  46. ^ a b c "Artist of the Month Alice Phoebe Lou on Street Performing, Femininity, and Space". Consequence. 7 March 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  47. ^ Gonzales, Erica (6 May 2019). "Maisie Williams Stars in Alice Phoebe Lou's Stellar "Galaxies" Video". Harpers Bazaar.
  48. ^ a b "A Place of My Own (Mahogany Sessions) - EP". music.apple.com. 12 July 2019. Archived from the original on 14 July 2019. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  49. ^ "aspekte vom 15. November 2019". zdf.de. 15 November 2019. Archived from the original on 16 November 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019. Alice part starts at 36 minutes
  50. ^ "NBHAP's 50 Best Albums Of 2019". NBHAP magazine. 4 December 2019. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  51. ^ "FMS Magazine's top 35 albums & EPs of 2019". FMS magazine. 30 December 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  52. ^ "Alice Phoebe Lou premieres new video, "Galaxies"". withguitars.com. 15 February 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  53. ^ "Alice Phoebe Lou disclosed honesty". metalmagazine.eu. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  54. ^ "Alice Phoebe Lou Announces US Tour Dates". broadwayworld.com. 14 August 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  55. ^ "Primavera Sounds kicks off summer festival season in Barcelona". thelast-magazine.com. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  56. ^ "Five breakthrough acts of the 2019 festival season". festileaks.com. 19 September 2019. Archived from the original on 29 February 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  57. ^ a b ""PULS Festival 2019 - Alice Phoebe Lou"". Bayerischer Rundfunk. 28 February 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  58. ^ "Alice Phoebe Lou auf Tour mit Milky Chance". themellowmusic.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  59. ^ "Alice Phoebe Lou - Berlin Live". Arte.tv. 5 April 2020. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  60. ^ "United We Stream #18: Baketown Avec DJ Gigola, Digby, Puto Production, P.D.O.A., Strongboi..." Arte.tv. 5 April 2020. Archived from the original on 19 January 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  61. ^ "Alice Phoebe Lou Shares New Song "Witches": Stream". Consequence. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  62. ^ "Strongboi, Alice Phoebe Lou's new alter-ego side project, just debuted and it's fiery and funky". texxandthecity.com. 10 March 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  63. ^ "Honey Thighs - Strongboi". music.apple.com. 10 April 2020. Archived from the original on 18 February 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  64. ^ "List pick - Strongboi Tuff Girl". themostradicalist.com. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  65. ^ a b "Alice Phoebe Lou Shares New Album Live at Funkhaus: Stream". Consequence. 4 May 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  66. ^ "Neues am Sonntag mit Knowsum, Alice Phoebe Lou u.a." fauves.de. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  67. ^ "Alice Phoebe Lou Wants To Feel It All On Melodic New Single "Touch"". nbhap.com. 20 July 2019. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  68. ^ a b "Alice Phoebe Lou kündigt ihr neues Album "Glow" an". themellowmusic.com. 8 November 2020. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  69. ^ "Alice Phoebe Lou Announces New Album Glow, Shares Origins of Single "Dusk": Stream". Consequence. 4 December 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  70. ^ "Alice Phoebe Lou covers unreleased Paul McCartney song". NME. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  71. ^ "Alice Phoebe Lou shares new single and video for "Dirty Mouth"". withguitars.com. 19 February 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  72. ^ a b "Alice Phoebe Lou Embraces Heartache and Emotion on Crackling Glow: Review". Consequence. 19 March 2021. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  73. ^ a b "Alice Phoebe Lou Discusses Writing Tips, New Album And Getting Chosen By Paul McCartney To Record A Song". American Songwriter. 19 March 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  74. ^ a b "Alice Phoebe Lou surprise releases jangly new indie folk album 'Child's Play'". indie88.com. 2 December 2021. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  75. ^ a b "Alice Phoebe Lou drops surprise fourth album, 'Child's Play'". nme.com. 4 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  76. ^ "Alice Phoebe Lou – Live at the Chapel in San Francisco". kzsc.org. 14 March 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  77. ^ "strongboi Shares "fool around"". Enigma Online. 25 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  78. ^ "Strongboi Album Review". The Tower. 10 March 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  79. ^ "Billy Bragg's tour with Alice Phoebe Lou comes to the Keswick Theatre". WXPN. 19 April 2022. Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  80. ^ "Alice Phoebe Lou shares new music video for "Shelter"". im-musicmagazine.com. 7 April 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  81. ^ "The second single from Alice Phoebe Lou's upcoming album is a glowing, intimate reflection on safety and self-love". thelineofbestfit.com. 28 April 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  82. ^ "Alice Phoebe Lou's 'Lose My Head' Is A Funky Ode To Vulnerability". clashmusic.com. 5 June 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  83. ^ a b "Alice Phoebe Lou – Shelter". clashmusic.com. 5 July 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  84. ^ "What It Means To Be An Independent Artist Today". npr.org. 26 March 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2019.

Further reading

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[edit]
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