Yelle are a French electropop band formed in 2005 from singer Julie Budet and producer GrandMarnier (Jean-François Perrier). They are famous in their homeland and abroad for their energetic and Retraux sound, their fun and often ironic lyrics and their colourful stage performances.
They first became prominent when their song "Short Dick Cuizi" (an early version of their debut single "Je veux te voir") was published on MySpace. Joined by producer and keyboardist DJ Tepr (Tanguy Destable), they released their debut album Pop Up in 2007, and they quickly made the waves in France and abroad, being named "Artist of the Week" by MTV in March 2008. In 2011, after the release of their second album Safari Disco Club, they opened for Katy Perry in the UK Dates of her California Dreams Tour. Tepr officially left the group before their third album was released, but he still collaborates from time to time with production and remixes.
Yelle's sound, while primarily being electro- and dance-pop, draws inspiration from pretty much all late '80s - early '90s music genres and acts, spanning from Prince to Red Hot Chili Peppers and Cyndi Lauper. Despite their worldwide success, they have insisted in singing in French only, to be able to fully express themselves in a language they are familiar with.
Not to be confused with fellow electronic music act Yello.
Discography:
- Pop Up (2007)
- Safari Disco Club (2011)
- Complètement founote (2014)
- L'Ère du Verseaunote (2020)
Yelle provide examples of the following tropes:
- Age of Titles: L'Ère du Verseau ("The Age of Aquarius").
- Auto-Tune: Most notably in "Safari Disco Club".
- Big "OMG!": Appropriately, "OMG!!!".
- Break-Up Song: Subverted with "Je t'aime encore". Julie is not singing to an ex partner, but to the French public who doesn't appreciate Yelle as much as international audiences do, yet she still loves them.
- Cerebus Syndrome: L'Ère du Verseau is both Darker and Edgier and Hotter and Sexier, and is considerably more serious in tone than their previous albums.
- Creator In-Joke: The male model portraying the "dog" in "J'veux un chien" wears a tag with the name Otto. Julie and Jean-François have a real-life dog named Otto.
- Cue the Sun: The hook of "OMG!!!":The sun has appearedThe sun has appearedThe sun has appeared (Oh my God!)
- The Diss Track: "Je veux te voire" is intended as a mock diss track towards Cuizinier (the "Cuizi" of the original song title) of French hip-hop group TTC.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: In "Complètement fou" Julie is sitting astride, almost as if riding, a giant corncob.
- Either/Or Title: "Ici et maintenant (Here & Now)".
- Face on the Cover: Julie's, on Complètement fou and L'Ère du Verseau.
- Fanservice: The video for "J'veux un chien" has Julie in a skintight mesh outfit writhing on a boat, and giant muscular male bodies emerging from the sea.
- Genre Throwback: They take inspiration from '80s and '90s music, especially disco, hip-hop, funk and bubblegum pop.
- Homage: "Mon beau chagrin" is one to composer Tony Hymas' song "Pictures of Departure", sampling the original music and reinterpreting the theme of travel in the spoken-word monologue.
- I Am the Noun: In "Je t'aime encore":I know I'm not the most beautiful, but I am sincerity.
- Inaction Video: In "Ici et maintenant (Here and Now)" Julie goes on with her day, ignoring her partner frantically dancing and thrashing all the time. At the end, they swap roles.
- Intentionally Awkward Title: "Short Dick Cuizi", which was thankfully changed for the proper song release.
- Limited Lyrics Song: "Karaté" has a single repeated verse of just four lines, plus the Title-Only Chorus.
- Lucky Charms Title: "Ba$$in".
- Mobile Shrubbery: Julie attempts this (but fails) in the "Safari Disco Club" video to evade the hunters.
- Ms. Fanservice: Julie has zero qualms about flaunting her figure in the videos. In "OMG!!!" she's seen nude from the waist up, covered only in glitter.
- Never Accepted in His Hometown: For an indie band they have had significant success abroad, yet not so much in their native France. "Je t'aime encore" was written about this.
- Obligatory Bondage Song: "J'veux un chien".
- One-Steve Limit: Their original name was YEL (short for "You Enjoy Life"), but they added the -le part when they discovered a Belgian band with the same name, other than to make it more feminine.
- The Power of the Sun: "OMG!!!" is a mundane example, describing the sunlight suddenly appearing and snapping a guy out of his depression.
- Rock Star Song: "Mon beau chagrin" is about the exhaustion brought by constant touring, but also the joy received during concerts from the fans, the "beautiful grief" of the title.
- Scenery Porn: In the video for "Karaté", Julie stands on a rock in the middle of a gorgeous forest river.
- Spoken Word in Music: "Mon beau chagrin".
- Stylistic Suck: The video for "Ba$$in" has shoddy chroma key and cheesy CGI animations.
- Surreal Music Video: In "Safari Disco Club", Julie (who apparently is some kind of animal) is chased through the streets by GrandMarnier and Tepr, who are dressed as hunters. Several people are seen planted head-first into the ground, unmoving. Julie jumps down a hole, ends on a dark soundstage, summons backup dancers and the video concludes with a Dance Party Ending.
- Teeny Weenie: The subject of "Je veux te voire". The original title was even "Short Dick Cuizi".
- Textless Album Cover: Complètement fou and L'Ère du Verseau.
- Title-Only Chorus: "Karaté".
