“Beautifully layered and atmospheric” – PAPER Magazine
“Dreamily infectious” – BlackBook
“Adventurous pop music that is infectious from the get-go” – Magnetic
Silly Boy Blue (Ana Benabdelkarim) is a young singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer based in Paris. Her debut album, Breakup Songs, is out June 18th via Columbia France. She was a music journalist before starting her artistic journey as part of the French band Pegase. Borrowing her name from a David Bowie song from the early part of his career before stardom, Silly Boy Blue shares with him a taste for risk and a deep-rooted desire to push norms and codes. Ana’s universe is beautifully split, she is as bright as the sun and as dark as the night.
Silly Boy Blue has released a series of transfixing singles and videos in advance of the album. On “Goodbye” she puts her distinct spin on classic synthpop with yearning lyrics and a soaring vocal that finds triumph in the heartbreak. “The Riddle” is a stirring and emotive ode to hope and finding your own place in the world. She took to the subways of Prague for the video and uses them as a metaphor for racing and obsessive thoughts. “Hi, It’s Me Again” is comforting yet conflicted. The almost ethereal instrumentation soothes as she explores the rage and emptiness that can follow a breakup before your resilience takes over. Earlier this month, she released an orchestral version of “The Fight” which appears on the album. The music was rearranged under the direction of French American prodigy conductor Uèle Lamore. Ana says, “I knew I wanted The Fight to be part of my album, although I wanted it to be different from the track we recorded in 2019. I approached Uèle Lamore, whose work I love, to help me rework it, and that’s how the orchestral version of The Fight was born. I consider the song to be the conclusion of a chapter: the song was born on my sofa, one night, with all the rage there was in me. It ends up accompanied by a string ensemble that was recorded at Studio Ferber in Paris.”
Silly Boy Blue videos:
“Hi, It’s Me Again”
“Goodbye”
“The Riddle”
“The Fight” (Orchestral Version)
Breakup Songs tracklist – out June 18th via Columbia France:
01. Hi, It’s Me Again
02. Teenager
03. The Riddle
04. Be the Clown
05. Creepy Girl
06. 200 Lovesongs
07. Goodbye
08. Lantern
09. Oh Please
10. 22
11. Cecilia Part II
12. The Fight (Orchestral Version)
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