Emilie Simon

About Emilie Simon

Émilie Simon is a French singer, songwriter and composer. In May 2003, she released her debut album Émilie Simon. The electronic album was critically acclaimed and went on to become a commercial success. To promote her album, she did numerous live performances and TV appearances all over France. In 2004, she was rewarded with a Victoire de la musique in the 'Electronic Album' category for the album.

Wishing to orient her second album towards a more wintry or polar setting, Émilie Simon proceeded to record sounds which relate to coldness such as the sounds of smashing ice and footsteps in the snow. Coincidentally, in the midst of her search for sounds for the album, she was contacted by producer Luc Jacquet to compose the original soundtrack for his documentary film La Marche de l'empereur (March of the Penguins in English), concerning the annual migration of emperor penguins. The film was released in France in early 2005, featuring a soundtrack by Simon that was also released by Universal Music as her second album. In 2006 she won the Victoire de la Musique in the "Film Soundtrack" category and was nominated for a César Award for the best film music composition. The version of March of the Penguins that was released in the United States and in English Canada used a more traditional documentary soundtrack scored by Alex Wurman, as the local producers feared that the Simon soundtrack would be too challenging for North American viewers.

In 2006, Émilie Simon released her third album, Végétal, in which she uses the sounds of plants, as hinted by the name. The lyrics play with words, always relating to flora. The album also contains more elements of rock music. This comes forward in some of the more lively tracks, such as "Fleur de Saison", where she plays an electric guitar. The sound remains nonetheless that of electronic music while her voice maintains its candor, softness, and beauty.