Deriving their name from a French expression that gently mocks sappy lovers, the Paris-based indie rock duo Fleur bleu.e — Delphine and Vladimir — features two accomplished musicians, who have been performing and writing music since they were both children: Vladimir was a guitarist in French garage rock band Brats, an act that recorded and released a Yarol Popouard-produced album that was supported with touring across France with BB Brunes. Delphine began playing cello in classical orchestras before learning guitar and playing at alternative festivals across Paris with her first band Le Studio Jaune.
When the duo met in 2019, they bonded over a mutual love of The Smiths, Beach House, Françoise Hardy and Elli et Jacno among others, and a desire to craft music that was emotionally ambiguous while being fueled by their teenage myths. Seemingly influenced by dramas and nightmares, their artistic vision is to go beyond the prism of the gender binary and call upon the listener to express their fragility, celebrating one’s inner world and the beauty in imperfections.
The Parisian duo released “Horizon” to critical applause late last year. Building upon a buzz worthy profile in their native France, the Parisian duo released “STOLT 89” earlier this year, a track that brought Bloom-era Beach House to mind while being an emotionally ambiguous feminist manifesto. Both of those singles will appear on the duo’s Ben Ettter-produced full-length debut slated for release next year.
In the meantime, the forthcoming album’s third and latest single “sun” sees the members of Fluer bleu.e crafting an infectious yet beautiful song that adds elements of folk and jangle pop to their singular take on dream pop. The end result is a song that sounds like Beach House meets The Sundays. But underneath the song’s sunny instrumentation, the song is a bittersweet meditation on depression, the search for a soulmate embodied by the sun and the stifling nature of the gender binary.
Directed by Clémentine Chapron and shot on Super 8 during golden hours, the recently released video for “sun” evokes the heartbreak, loneliness and depression at the heart of the song. Throughout the video, there are subtle reminders that the sun is never far away — whether brooding in a small apartment or out on the streets.
