Vanessa and the O's
Hey, Turns out James is back.. with a new band. http://www.vanessaandtheos.com/Vanessa & the O’s
Biography
It’s an unlikely union, a Parisian chanteuse, two Swedes and a New Yorker, a group that simply should not be… but magically somehow is!
When former Smashing Pumpkin James Iha met up with Niclas Frisk , Andreas Mattson and Vanessa Quinones 23 floors up in a Manhattan hotel in the summer of 2003 starting a new band was the last thing on his mind and yet, bewitched by the dreamy sound that is Vanessa’s voice and the hypnotic melodies these three visiting troubadours were creating that day it seemed the right thing to do!
Although James was already committed to touring with A Perfect Circle The O’s never let great distances and being on different continents interrupt the musical flow. Faced with this problem the unlikely foursome decided to meet up and write and record in hotel rooms and rented apartments around the world!
Each track on debut album ‘La Ballade d’O’ was written and recorded in New York, Paris, London and Stockholm. It became a way of working, Vanessa recording many of the albums vocals ‘on the road’, as she says “sometimes you just can’t repeat the magic of that first rough take so we decided to keep the ’hotel vocals’, street sounds and all” with Niclas and Andreas taking the fledgling recordings back to their Stockholm studio to add guitars, beats and their own brand of cool pop magic.
When Pelle Gunnerfeldt who was finishing production on The Hives album was played the rough mixes he knew straight off he had to get involved, became an honorary member of The O’s and took the mixes of Plus Rien, Bagatelle, New York Hotel, J’Attends Lou and the rest into the studio adding his own substantial touches to The O’s eclectic sound delivering the final mixes in March 2005.
What do The O’s sound like? Well with recent Lou Reed collaboratrice Vanessa slipping between French and English like a latter-day Bardot over the jangling guitars and shimmering Spector-ish songs and soundscapes of The O’s ‘La Ballade d’O’ simply transports us to another world! Take a trip with Vanessa & The O’s.
‘La Ballade d’O’ is released May 2005.
I just listened to "Charlie Charlie" on their website, and wow, it's something.. different, lol. I guess it's what I've come to expect from James, just something different. It'd be interesting to see how they do, and see what James' future is with A Perfect Circle, and a possible SP reunion.
Hey, Turns out James is back.. with a new band. http://www.vanessaandtheos.com/