Colleen is the alias of French musician Cécile Schott, who over the course of five albums has consistently reinvented herself by taking acoustic instruments out of their usual context and pushing the boundaries of their playability, with compositions ranging from the mysterious and contemplative to kinetic and playful. Colleen has played live all over Europe, the US, Japan, Brazil and Singapore, giving more than 200 concerts in prestigious venues and festivals such as Moogfest, Big Ears, Mutek, Transmediale, Villette Sonique, Rewire and many more. From 2003 to 2007, she released three albums on The Leaf Label. While Everyone Alive Wants Answers (2003) was made up entirely of acoustic samples taken from her eclectic record collection, The Golden Morning Breaks (2005) saw her exploring a wide range of acoustic instruments which she all played herself. In 2006 French radio station France Culture’s commission for a “radiophonic workshop” became the Colleen et les Boîtes à Musique EP, focusing on the sound world of music boxes. 2007’s Les Ondes Silencieuses fulfilled her dream of making a modern album using almost exclusively baroque instruments (viola da gamba, spinet, clarinet, classical guitar and crystal glasses). After a break from recording and touring, Colleen returned with The Weighing of the Heart in May 2013 on Second Language, with a significant shift in approach, focusing on the voice and on a more colorful and rhythmic approach, still using a wide variety of instruments and introducing a modified treble viola da gamba. Her fifth album Captain of None, released on Thrill Jockey in 2015, is the most melodic in her repertoire, with fast-paced tracks rooted by prominent bass lines and her instruments of choice, the treble viola da gamba and her voice. It features delicately crafted, other-worldly pop songs incorporating dub-inspired techniques. She will release her 6th album this fall on Thrill Jockey, this time focusing on electronics and voice. Press quotes: -NPR Music’s 50 Favorite Albums of the Year -NPR Music’s Top 10 Electronic Albums of the Year -Jon Caramanica (New York Times) Top 10 Albums of the Year “Exquisite, precise music made of unlikely inputs ... The result is like a heart that pumps blood and also data.” –New York Times “It is a wondrous concoction, simultaneously ancient and modern, brought together by technology and the ear of a woman who unites epochs.” –NPR “French pop composer Cecile Schott sounds as if she’s whispering her dubbed-out lullabies from the bottom of the ocean.” –Washington Post “But more important than what jumps out at you is what doesn’t: silence, delay and the hypnotic effect of repetition are as much instruments as the musical instruments themselves. Those are all qualities we usually associate with techno, and that’s where Schott really shines.” –Resident Advisor “Captain of None is yet another absolutely stellar Colleen album.” –Brainwashed “This newly arrived 2015 follow-up is the classic reaffirmer that galvanizes what precedes even as it quietly surpasses” –Tiny Mix Tapes “If eclectic, Schott’s oeuvre is an inviting one, in particular most recently, and it’s readily clear she’s interested in a dialogue with as many open ears as can be reached. Through Captain of None it’s just as apparent that as Colleen she remains a thousand miles away from pandering for listenership.” –The Vinyl District “More than any sort of technical achievement or genre alteration, Captain of None powerfully blends the mythic, organic, and internal.” –Consequence of Sound “In fact, there are times on Captain of None where the album’s architecture is so compelling it’s easy to miss the resonance of the songs themselves. But pieces like “I’m Kin” and the title track positively vibrate with melodic ideas, their lyrics filled with oblique little koans.” –Pitchfork “There’s worlds of space in the song, yet it still teems with activity, like a window looking out onto a blizzard.” –Pitchfork “Schott dares you to pay attention to the slightest movements in her alien world.” –Consequence of Sound “The result is gorgeous, like a quietly brewing storm of layered pizzicatos, bouncing off the walls and grazing your ears as they glide past you.” –Stereogum