Boudoir

BOUDOIR is a project formed by two founding members of San Francisco's SMITTEN (available on Spotify as Smitten SF), Ala Sharon and Damon Fries. Influenced by groups like SLOWDIVE, SECRET SHINE, DEAD CAN DANCE, COCTEAU TWINS, and MY BLOODY VALENTINE, BOUDOIR could be considered an electronic, darker version of SMITTEN, with samplers and synthesizers texturing the moody songs beneath Ala's soaring, echoed vocals and Damon's dreamy, swirling and heavy guitars. The songs revolve around themes of lust, sorrow and alienation, the music always sad and longing, but beautiful. Before BOUDOIR and SMITTEN, Ala had performed as vocalist and keyboardist with groups THE CATHERINES in Kansas City, whilst Damon had played in punk-pop groups PARASITES and THE PLAGIARISTS in California, as well as being an indie radio DJ for several years. SMITTEN formed in San Francisco in 1994, influenced by the dreampop/ethereal sounds of bands on 4AD and Creation Records. They released an EP and an album ("Stellar"), which charted well in the US college radio charts, even reaching number one in some cities. They toured the US in 1996, but constant lineup changes and creative differences slowed the progress of the band, and they peacefully disbanded while recording a follow-up album, "Fear Of A Happy Planet" (soon to be available on Spotify). Damon and Ala started the new project, BOUDOIR in 1998, and have found much more attention after moving to Europe. They relocated to Amsterdam in mid-1998, where, after adjusting to the appropriate culture shocks, they released their debut album as BOUDOIR, "Currency of the Soul", on Pandaimonium Records via Ronny Moorings from Clan Of Xymox. Pandaimonium already released the first official BOUDOIR track on the sampler "Songs of Pain" in 2002. BOUDOIR made its premiere live European performance at the illustrious Gotham Festival at the Paradiso in Amsterdam in 2002. The group received a highly enthusiastic and warm response from the crowd despite being relatively unknown. Recently, they returned to the stage to play the Summer Darkness festival in Utrecht, with a full lineup including Ronald Renirie on drums, Raymond Rotteveel on bass and Vera Kertesz on keys and guitar. The new album, "Separation Anxiety", will be released in early 2012! Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.