Iko Chérie

IKO Chérie Track-By-Track Guide To New Album “Dreaming On” (+ Stream)

Former MONADE member Marie Merlet – aka IKO CHÉRIE – is streaming in full her new album Dreaming On, out today on Elefant Records.

Born in Bordeaux but now based in London, Marie was involved in several musical projects like a 60s girl-group covers band, a Washington DC-styled punk combo and various experimental electronic ventures, before being asked to join MONADE by LAETITIA SADIER (STEREOLAB). After moving to London she continued her musical journey as part of electronic duo ZOOEY and the sweet pop of LISBONNE. In 2013 she began recording songs in her home studio under the name IKO Chérie, and the result is debut album Dreaming On.

The album blends the many styles of her musical background with French pop origins (Francoise Hardy, France Gall, Les Parisiennes), updated with her nebulous ambiance, spacey lounge and Brazilian tinges.

Marie was kind enough to also put together a handy track-by-track guide to accompany the magical stream, which you can find below:

IF EVERY SONG COULD BREAK YOUR HEART

That song is heavily influenced by sixties soul and is kind of about when you set out to make a mixtape for someone who doesn’t love you anymore. Irma Thomas sings this beautiful song « Anyone Who Knows What Love Is » where she is into this very destructive relationship, I wanted to keep the same kind of vibe but with a more independent stance, where the girl actually walks away and does her own thing.

WILD CHILD

A slight hint to Chip Taylor on that song, it’s kind of about being able to feel like a kid again. Some people have this ability to do this to you, that’s a tribute to them. I recorded most of it at home in London and finished it near Paris, in my friend’s Julien Gasc’s living room. It was a fun weekend!

COLOUR ME DARK

I wrote that song after watching Ken Russel’s 1962 documentary about British Pop Art « Pop Goes The Easel ». It’s how I discovered the work of Pauline Boty and I was completely blown away by her paintings and her life story. She has this painting called « Colour Her Gone » that features Marilyn Monroe and the way these two women had such tragic destinies was really striking. I recorded all the parts for Colour Me Dark quite quickly, the sound is very lo-fi and I hope it feels spontaneous and reminiscent of what Beat Happening used to do. Most songs on the album I recorded in a room that is everything but soundproof, so you can hear the sirens of Walworth road on many tracks if you pay close attention!

COMME FERDINAND ET MARIANNE

This song is a take on the story of Ferdinand and Marianne in Godard’s Pierrot Le Fou, which is one of my favourite films. I was interested in the idea of being lost on an island with the one you love outside civilisation and of things not turning out as good as you thought they would, an impossible communion with the other and with nature.

DREAMIN’

I wanted to cover a song about dreams that was not obvious and presented dreams in an ambivalent way. Sun Ra’s song is really mellow and swings but the lyrics are quite dark, I feel attracted to this dichotomy and I also love the fact that Yo La Tengo covered it live, space bop meets indie, that’s cool. I adapted the lyrics in French and it worked quite well, it’s kind of a lullaby.

A ROOM OF MY OWN

Guitars and vocals layered onto one another, the idea was to create a drone that swallows you in and protects you. Like when you have a space that belongs only to you, like when Brian Wilson sings « In My Room »…

LE JARDIN DES PLANTES

Another song recorded in Paris with Julien Gasc from Aquaserge and Emma Mario from Astrobal. It was great to harmonize all together on the 1968 slogan « sous les pavés la plage » at the end because it still resonates with the need for freedom and fairness in this world, seriously, when is all this violence and greed going to end? My mum grew up in Paris and she was a student involved in the demonstrations. Sometime two years ago I came home to Bordeaux with an old book of Paris maps and we started looking at them and talking about her childhood and how she would go to the Jardin Des Plantes with her dad when she was a kid, the song kind of follows her from being a little girl to becoming a rebel young woman. She is really true to her opinions still and I admire her a lot, the spirit of 68 lives on.

GO NOW !

I knew I wanted to do a straightforward and simple pop song with my dear friend Laetitia Sadier. I only had some chords and lyrics and went to her place to record the vocals and the moog with her. I love seeing Laetitia play her moog, she is great at it, she really grooves! It’s always interesting to work together. Laetitia is a very inspiring woman who has been a big influence and a mentor for me since I joined Monade.

FLOWERS FOR BRIAN

When I recorded my album, which was sometimes a painful process where I was doubting my self a lot, I always had in front of me a black and white postcard of Brian Wilson’s face popping out of a swimming pool, looking kind of pissed off (I am actually looking at him right now as I write this). I also had some flowers in a glass next to his portrait, a bit like an offering and because I never changed the water the flowers were decomposing. Looking at this picture kind of gave me the strength to hang on to my ego, to carry on and finish the record. I am a huge fan of the Beach Boys and Brian Wilson is a genius, my favourite song of all times is « Till I Die ». I am actually painting a portrait of Brian at the moment.

GOOD TO YOU AGAIN

My precious friend Matthieu Beck from ZOOEY gave me the basis for this song. It’s pretty chilled out with lots of layers and it’s about the fact that even though dreams don’t always come true it’s important to keep on dreaming and not just get stuck into the rat race.

EVEN THE STARS

This is my favourite track on the record and I like the way it closes it, the music put through a cassette recorder and slowed down before the cassette stops. The title and idea came from a film by Jacques Tourneur called “I Walked With a Zombie”, there is a great scene in that film where the heroin is on a sailboat looking at the sky in wonder and commenting on the beauty of the natural world and she gets told that no matter how beautiful everything good is, everything good dies, even the stars. That stuck with me, I think I can be quite pessimistic at times and I guess there is a little bit of darkness in all of my songs, no matter how sweet they are.