As we launch NME Emerging – a platform where unsigned acts can build up and manage a profile page for their music, right here on NME – we’ll be shining a light on of the new profiles each week that stood out against the rest. If you sign up, you could end up right here on NME.com, just like this week’s pick, la lune. Here’s what you need to know about them.
From: Brighton
For fans of: The xx, Astronomyy, Vancouver Sleep Clinic
Sounds like: Intricate, delicate beats to file next to Bon Iver and James Blake.
Why you’re going to love them: Surrounded by an aura of anonymity and masked beneath her pseudonym, the presence of la lune is as low-key as her music. By upholding a subtle social media presence and refusing to reveal her true name, la lune is using silence as her weapon to ‘protest’ against the over sexualisation of women in music, stating that her music should be listened to and judged at ‘face value’.
After discovering her love for Gabrielle Aplin at 16, la lune decided to take it upon herself to start writing and producing. Three years on and she now epitomises that DIY ethos – a spirit which has become the backbone of her work. Tracks such as ‘bathe’ and ‘climatise’ channel the rich tranquility of The Japanese House, glowing almost as bright as her stage name, which translates to the moon in French.
Recommended
la lune treats her process of songwriting like journal writing, injecting all of her thoughts and feelings into the veins of her tracks. ‘sea so blue’ takes the listener on a venture through one of her haunting journal entries, by exemplifying how simple words can carry weight – ‘with every silence, oh / you break me / please don’t ignore / you break me’. One of her most melancholic numbers, ‘(you keep me) sane’, which was written about ‘being in a bad place’, is accompanied by swirling synth beats, creating a juxtaposition between sombre subject matter and shimmering.
Essential track: (you keep me) sane
Words: Sophie Williams