CHARLOTTE COURBE

Charlotte Marionneau, ou Charlotte Courbe, é unha cantante, compositora e produtora nacida en Francia, membro das bandas Le Volume Courbe, e Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.

Medrou nunha pequena cidade dos Pays de la Loire, na costa oeste de Francia. Sempre lle gustou a música, e durante un breve período formou parte dunha banda da zona. As súas influencias temperás foron David Bowie, que lle amosou que tiña liberdade para ser o que quixera ser, e tamén The Stooges e The Velvet Underground. Estudou Cine e Fotografía e trasladouse a Glasgow, en Escocia, para traballar en televisión. En 1995 decidiu mudarse a Londres, pois descubriu que alí a música estaba moito máis presente na cultura; empezou a facer traballos relacionados coa música, e a cidade produciu un enorme impacto na súa experiencia musical.

Charlotte non é unha música convencional. Unha vez instalada en Inglaterra, formou a súa propia banda, chamada “Le Volume Courbe”, que é o nome dunha escultura creada por un amigo seu en Francia, Marcel Marionneau. En 1997, dous anos despois de chegar, gravou un dúo con Simon Raymonde dos Cocteau Twins, o single "In My Place", que era unha versión de Robert Mitchum. 

Durante esta época comezou a compoñer cancións mentres recibía o apoio vital dunha serie de músicos coma Hope Sandoval, Kevin Shields, David Roback e Colm O’Ciosoig, que opinaban que debía gravar un disco e lle deron confianza; tamén fixeron contribucións ao seu álbum de debut, a maior parte do cal foi gravado na súa casa. En 2001 publicou un single, "Harmony", co selo Poptones de Alan McGee.

En 2005 gravou o seu primeiro álbum, “I killed my best friend”, que foi publicado en  Honest Jon's. Era un disco punk inspirado por Nico, Yoko Ono e The Ramones; un material pouco convencional, mestura agridoce de melancolía e travesura.

Le Volume Courbe teloneou a My Bloody Valentine nos concertos de Roundhouse de 2008. O single "Freight Train", unha colaboración coa banda Primal Scream, publicouse en 2007, e incorporouse á banda sonora do drama televisivo Skins de Channel 4. Outros temas que apareceron en películas inclúen "I Killed My Best Friend" na película de Lindy Heymann "Kicks", e "I Love The Living You", na película de Nick Moran "The Kid". Unha canción da banda tamén apareceu no álbum tributo a Roky Erickson "The Psychedelic Sounds of the Sonic Cathedral".

De 2007 a 2013 Charlotte comezou a tocar en directo cos seus amigos e a súa banda: Mel Draisey, Theodore Hall, Chris Mackin, Wildcat, Lascelle Gordon e Barney Slater, que contribuíron ao EP "Theodaurus Rex" en 2011, e ao álbum "I Wish Dee Dee Ramone Was Here With Me" lanzado en 2015. Para as portadas deste EP e álbum, empregou unha imaxe dun artista surrealista belga da década de 1920, Paul Nougé.

En 2017, Charlotte aportou a súa voz cun segmento recitado en francés ao tema "It's A Beautiful World" de Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. David Holmes, o produtor do álbum “Who Built The Moon?”, que sempre apoiara a música de Charlotte, foi o que lle pediu que participara na gravación do disco, un traballo innovador e moi diferente a todo o que Noel fixera antes. Tamén actuou nos vídeos "Holy Mountain" e "It’s A Beautiful World".  Nesta banda, Charlotte fai coros, e toca o asubío de folla de lata, as tesoiras e a pandeireta.

Ese ano, actuou coa banda no programa Jools Holland tocando as tesoiras durante "She Taught Me How To Fly", e a reacción do público foi unha loucura, coma se fora a fin do mundo. Ela levaba dous ou tres anos  tocando as tesoiras en concertos que daba cun amigo xaponés, como outra percusión máis; á xente gustáballe, e ela non pensaba que fora para tanto. Pero despois da aparición no programa, Noel tivo que falar das tesoiras en cada entrevista.

En 2018 e 2019 uniuse á xira mundial de Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds e apareceu nos vídeos "Black Star Dancing" e "This is The Place".

En 2019, o seu tema "Born To Lie" apareceu en Killing Eve (serie 2, episodio 6) e tamén apareceu na compilación Killing Eve.

Nese mesmo ano, diagnosticáronlle un cancro mentres estaba de tour con Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, e con moito desgusto tivo que deixar a xira para poñerse a tratamento.  Entón Charlotte sentiu o desexo de producir e lanzar música ese ano; nas súas palabras, "volveuse como algo vital", xa que era algo que ninguén lle podía quitar, e produciu a cara B "MRI Song" e "Planet Ping Pong" durante o seu tratamento de quimioterapia.

Despois da quimioterapia, Noel Gallagher permitiu que se unira de novo á banda para telonear a U2 no seu tour por Nova Zelanda e Australia. El quería que o tour fose algo especial para ela, e isto fixo que a súa experiencia co cancro fose moito máis doada. A pesar da dureza da viaxe, enseguida comezou a pasalo ben con todos os seus amigos da banda.

Tras 25 anos en Londres, mudouse a Brighton uns días antes do confinamento por COVID-19.

A continuación, seguiu traballando nunha serie de tres EPs. O primeiro deles, Fourteen Years, publicouse en novembro de 2020 en Honest Jon's Records. Incluía aqueles dous temas que gravou mentres recibía tratamento de quimioterapia: "MRI Song" e "Planet Ping Pong". A ilustración da portada é do artista e conceptual inglés e amigo de Charlotte John Stezaker.

Tamén en 2020, Spotify votou o seu tema "Rusty" (coescrito con Chris Mackin), do seu segundo álbum, como un dos mellores temas da última década, e seleccionouno para o seu recompilatorio 00.

En xuño de 2022 volveu a saír de xira con Noel Gallagher e os High Flying Birds polo Reino Unido e Irlanda.

En marzo de 2025, anunciouse que o novo disco de Le Volume Courbe, "Planet Ping Pong", será publicado o 9 de maio por Duophonic Super 45s, un selo discográfico independente británico formado pola banda anglo-francesa Stereolab. Será o terceiro disco de Charlotte, despois de “I Wish Dee Dee Ramone Was Here With Me” (2015).

O disco combina xéneros coma o punk e o pop dun xeito experimental, con resoancias da poesía beat. Trátase dunha marabillosa e sorprendente mestura, chea de frescura e orixinalidade, sinceridade, elegancia e delicadeza. Dun xeito lúdico, racha coas normas e convencións, e expande os límites dos xéneros tradicionais, logrando un son único e distintivo.

Ademais, inclúe colaboracións con Noel Gallagher (Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Oasis), o finado Terry Hall (cantante de The Specials e Fun Boy Three), Andrew Innes, guitarrista de Primal Scream, e outros.

O disco reflicte o crecemento persoal de Charlotte e a súa propia identidade sónica, pero tamén se trata dunha homenaxe ás súas raíces musicais.

O primeiro sinxelo é "Two-Love", con Charlotte aportando unhas voces como de soño, Noel Gallagher ao piano e baixo, Lascelles Gordon nas percusións, e e Andrew Innes na programación.

O disco tamén inclúe unha versión de Daniel Johnston, "Mind Contorted", que se presenta a dúo con Terry Hall, e na que tamén participan o seu fillo Theodore Hall e Noel Gallagher nas guitarras.

O album foi producido e mezclado pola propia Charlotte, con Brendan Lynch .

Texto publicado orixinalmente: 26/11/2021

Texto actualizado: 29/04/2025

Charlotte Marionneau, or Charlotte Courbe, is a singer, songwriter and producer born in France, member of the bands Le Volume Courbe, and Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.

She grew up in a small town in Pays de la Loire, on the west coast of France. She has always enjoyed music, and for a brief period she was part of a local band. Her early influences were David Bowie, who showed her she had the freedom to be whatever she wanted to be, and also The Stooges and The Velvet Underground. She studied Cinema and Photography and moved to Glasgow, Scotland, to work in television. In 1995 she decided to move to London, because she discovered that music was much more present in the culture there; she started doing music-related jobs, and the city made a huge impact on her musical experience.

Charlotte is not a conventional musician. Once she was settled in England, she formed her own band, called "Le Volume Courbe", which is the name of a sculpture created by a friend of her in France, Marcel Marionneau. In 1997, two years after arriving, she recorded a duet with Simon Raymonde of the Cocteau Twins, the single "In My Place", which was a Robert Mitchum cover.

During this time she began to compose songs while receiving the vital support of a series of musicians such as Hope Sandoval, Kevin Shields, David Roback and Colm O'Ciosoig, who were of the opinion that she should record an album and they gave her confidence; they also made contributions to her debut album, most of which was recorded at home. In 2001 she published a single, "Harmony", with Alan McGee's Poptones label.

In 2005 she recorded her first album, "I killed my best friend", which was published in Honest Jon's. It was a punk album inspired by Nico, Yoko Ono and The Ramones; unconventional material, a bittersweet mix of melancholy and mischief.

Le Volume Courbe opened for My Bloody Valentine at the Roundhouse shows in 2008. The single "Freight Train", a collaboration with the band Primal Scream, was released in 2007, and was included on the soundtrack to the Channel 4 TV drama Skins. Other tracks that appeared in films include "I Killed My Best Friend" in Lindy Heymann's film "Kicks", and "I Love The Living You", in Nick Moran's film "The Kid". A song by the band also appeared on the Roky Erickson tribute album "The Psychedelic Sounds of the Sonic Cathedral".

From 2007 to 2013 Charlotte started playing live with her friends and band: Mel Draisey, Theodore Hall, Chris Mackin, Wildcat, Lascelle Gordon and Barney Slater, who contributed to the EP "Theodaurus Rex" in 2011, and the album "I Wish Dee Dee Ramone Was Here With Me" released in 2015. For the covers of this EP and album, she used an image of a Belgian surrealist artist from the 1920s, Paul Nougé.

In 2017, Charlotte lent her voice to Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' "It's A Beautiful World" with a segment recited in French. David Holmes, the producer of the album "Who Built The Moon?", who had always supported Charlotte's music, was the one who asked her to participate in the recording of the album, a work that was innovative and very different from anything Noel had done before. She also performed in the videos "Holy Mountain" and "It's A Beautiful World". In this band, Charlotte does backing vocals, and plays tin whistle, scissors and tambourine.

That year, she performed with the band on the Jools Holland show playing the scissors during "She Taught Me How To Fly", and the audience reaction was crazy, like it was the end of the world. She had been playing the scissors for two or three years in concerts she gave with a Japanese friend, as another percussion; people liked it, and she didn't think it was such a big deal. But after appearing on the show, Noel had to talk about the scissors in every interview.

In 2018 and 2019 she joined Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds world tour and appeared in the videos "Black Star Dancing" and "This is The Place".

In 2019, her track "Born To Lie" was featured in Killing Eve (Series 2, Episode 6) and was also featured on the Killing Eve compilation.

That same year, she was diagnosed with cancer while on tour with Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, and with much regret she had to leave the tour to undergo treatment. Then Charlotte felt the urge to produce and release music that year; in her words, it "became like something vital" as it was something no one could take away from her, and she produced the B-sides "MRI Song" and "Planet Ping Pong" during her chemotherapy treatment.

After chemotherapy, Noel Gallagher allowed her to rejoin the band to be the opening act for U2 on their tour of New Zealand and Australia. He wanted the tour to be something special for her, and that made her experience with cancer much more easy. Despite the harshness of the trip, she immediately began to have a good time with all her friends in the band.

After 25 years in London, she moved to Brighton a few days before the COVID-19 lockdown.

She then continued working on a series of three EPs. The first of these, Fourteen Years, was released in November 2020 on Honest Jon's Records. It included two songs she recorded while undergoing chemotherapy: "MRI Song" and "Planet Ping Pong". The cover artwork is by English conceptual artist and friend of Charlotte John Stezaker.

Also in 2020, Spotify voted her song "Rusty" (co-written with Chris Mackin), from her second album, as one of the best songs of the last decade, and selected it for its compilation 00.

In June 2022, she toured again with Noel Gallagher and the High Flying Birds in the UK and Ireland.

In March 2025, it was announced that Le Volume Courbe's new album, "Planet Ping Pong", will be released on May 9 by Duophonic Super 45s, a British independent record label formed by the Anglo-French band Stereolab. It will be Charlotte's third album, after "I Wish Dee Dee Ramone Was Here With Me" (2015).

The album combines genres such as punk and pop in an experimental way, with resonances of beat poetry. It is a wonderful and surprising mix, full of freshness and originality, sincerity, elegance and delicacy. In a playful way, it breaks with the norms and conventions, and pushes the boundaries of traditional genres, achieving a unique and distinctive sound.

It also includes collaborations with Noel Gallagher (Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Oasis), the late Terry Hall (singer of The Specials and Fun Boy Three), Andrew Innes, guitarist of Primal Scream, and others.

The album reflects Charlotte's personal growth and her own sonic identity, but is also a tribute to her musical roots.

The first single is "Two-Love", with Charlotte providing dreamlike vocals, Noel Gallagher on piano and bass, Lascelles Gordon on percussion, and Andrew Innes on programming.

The album also includes a version of Daniel Johnston's "Mind Contorted", which is performed as a duet with Terry Hall, and also features his son Theodore Hall and Noel Gallagher on guitars.

The album was produced and mixed by Charlotte herself, with Brendan Lynch.

Text originally published : 26/11/2021 

Updated text: 29/04/2025