Indigo Red

Fabienne Delsol is back with her fifth solo album!

Fabienne has been finessing her unique blend of neo- and classic psych, ye-ye, and ‘60s beat inspired pop since releasing her debut solo album No Time For Sorrows in 2004. She’s now about to release her brand-new studio album Indigo Red. 

Fabienne’s recording of ‘I’m Gonna Haunt You’ (from 2004's No Time For Sorrows) was featured in the second season of the massive BBC show Killing Eve opening her music up to a wider audience. 

Since her 2019 album Four Fabienne has been working on tracks for her new album Indigo Red. This is her first album to be recorded at Gizzard Studios by Ed Deegan (ex Toe Rag Studios) at the controls and co-produced by Delsol and Deegan. It features a crack team of musicians including Thomas Gardner, Carwyn Ellis, and Bradley Burgess, and Rupert Brown. The album mixes new original songs with covers of songs by artists including Silver Apples, The Count Five, Sharon Tandy, and Francoise Hardy.

We asked Fabienne some questions about her new album…

It's been quite a while since you released Four in 2019. When did you start work on Indigo Red? Did you have a specific sound and style in mind when you started working towards the record?

I’ve started working on Indigo Red about two years ago, and by the time I went to the studio I had already worked out the arrangements, and I knew exactly what instruments I wanted to use on what song, so I was very well prepared. I knew how I wanted the album to sound like and I had a lot of ideas for sounds and effects, like how to combine such instrument with such effect and how to make the most of the short time in the studio. 

Despite all the preparation, I still wanted room to experiment on a few songs, (”I have known love” being one of them), this went true particularly with keyboard player Carwyn Ellis who doesn’t want to know the songs before he comes to the studio, so he leaves it open, he is a true wizard, he works out his lines on the spot and we work the sounds together there and then. All the musicians on this recording are wizards, all of them amazing. The actual recording only took a couple of weeks, but the work that went before the recording was phenomenal. When you go to the studio you hope all your ideas will come through and here they did, or at least most of them, so it all worked like a dream. 

How would you say Indigo Red differs to your previous albums? 

I would say that my inspirations grow a bit wider on each record I make, this album isn’t drastically different to the others, I haven't and will not change my style but has broader musical influences that my first albums maybe didn’t have. The songs are more different from one another on this album. More musically varied I’d say.  

You've co-produced the album with Ed Deegan. What was it like working with him?

It was the first time I worked with Ed on an album, and it was great working with him! He really understood what I was after and how to transcribe it on tape, he took all my ideas on board, made them work as well as adding some ideas too. I wanted to create as many psychedelic sounds as possible, and this can take time and patience with analogue recording. For example, with some songs we had five or six different tracks just for different keyboards that we had to mix together and still make sense of it making sure each bit is heard. We had to go over the mixes a few times and he never lost patience, he wanted me to be happy with everything, I think the result is great. I feel that this is the album I’ve worked the most on off all of them with the before, during and after the recording.  

Your son Knox plays guitar on 'Black Sheep'. That must have been a proud and fun day in the studio. What musical tastes do you share? Do you think he'll follow in your footsteps and have a musical career?

Yes, I’m very proud of Knox the way he walked in that studio and nailed it straight away (two takes for two tracks, no mistakes), he was a real pro although that was his first time ever on a studio session. It was a great experience for him. It’s great that he has already become a musician at his young age, this came very naturally, Knox hasn't ever taken music lessons, he learns everything himself. He always had a very strong interest in music, he's been playing guitar for a few years now, and loves anything to do with art, especially sound and image, so who knows where that’s going to take him? But I’ll certainly hire him again for the next sessions!