Lætitia Sadier
Encyclopedia
Lætitia Sadier is a French musician best known as the singer of the post-rock
band Stereolab
.
guitarist Tim Gane
at a gig in Paris during the late 1980s. Sadier was disillusioned with the rock scene in France, and soon moved to London to be with Gane and to pursue her career. She contributed vocals to McCarthy's
second and third albums. The band broke up in 1990 and she and Gane immediately formed Stereolab
. For the first incarnation of the band, they enlisted ex-Chills
bassist Martin Kean
, drummer Joe Dilworth and Gina Morris on backing vocals.
While Tim Gane has written the bulk of the music in Stereolab, Sadier is the main contributor of lyrics, written in both English and French. Sadier also plays keyboards, percussion, guitar and trombone.
with Pram
's Rosie Cuckston. Monade released the singles "The Sunrise Telling" and "Witch Hazel/Ode to a Keyring" in 1997. The band's debut album Socialisme Ou Barbarie: The Bedroom Recordings was released on Duophonic Records
in Europe and Drag City
in the US in 2003. Their second album A Few Steps More was released on Too Pure in 2004. Monade's third, Monstre cosmic, was released in February 2008 on Duophonic.
Sadier has contributed vocals to various groups and projects, at times along with the late Stereolab member Mary Hansen
. She and Hansen had contributed vocals to various recordings of The High Llamas
(band of sometimes-Stereolab member Sean O'Hagan
). Sadier added French backing vocals on "To the End", a top 20 hit for Blur
in 1994. In 1995, she recorded the Serge Gainsbourg
/Brigitte Bardot
song "Bonnie and Clyde" with Luna
. In 2001, Sadier sang on "Sol y Sombra" on Fugu's Fugu 1 LP on Minty Fresh
Records. In 2002, Sadier sang the chorus on "New Wave" from Common's
album Electric Circus
. She sang lead vocals on "Haiku One" from Sigmatropic's 2004 album Sixteen Haiku & Other Stories which was an album based on the poetry of Greek poet Giorgos Seferis
. In 2009 the French label Deux Mille released an EP which features Sadier singing with Toulouse
-based band Momotte.
Throughout the years, Sadier has occasionally collaborated with German electronica
group Mouse on Mars
. In 1997, Sadier sung on "Schnick Schnack Meltmade" on Mouse on Mars
' Autoditacker
LP, and she and Mary Hansen
contributed vocals to the Cache Coeur Naif EP. In turn, Mouse on Mars produced tracks on Stereolab's Dots and Loops
LP. In 2007, Sadier wrote songs with MoM and toured with them in Italy. They have yet to record the songs for release.
Sadier also contributed backing vocals to the track "Go Round" on The Hair and Skin Trading Company
's 1993 album Over Valence.
Sadier also wrote and sang the lyrics to the track "Quick Canal" by Atlas Sound
for the 2009 release Logos
.
After many years together, Sadier and Tim Gane
split up in 2004, but they continued to work together in Stereolab until the band's hiatus in 2009. They have a child, Alex, born in 1998.
Post-rock
Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...
band Stereolab
Stereolab
Stereolab are an alternative music band formed in 1990 in London, England. The band originally comprised songwriting team Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier , both of whom remained at the helm across many lineup changes...
.
Stereolab
Sadier was working as a nanny when she met McCarthyMcCarthy (band)
McCarthy were a British indie pop band, formed in Barking, Essex, England in 1984 by schoolmates Malcolm Eden and Tim Gane with John Williamson and Gary Baker...
guitarist Tim Gane
Tim Gane
Tim Gane is the leader of the rock band, Stereolab.He started his musical career as a purveyor of harsh noise in the early 1980s under the alias Unkommuniti releasing self financed cassettes on Black Dwarf Wreckordings along with fellow Unkommuniti members Kallous Boys and other noise projects....
at a gig in Paris during the late 1980s. Sadier was disillusioned with the rock scene in France, and soon moved to London to be with Gane and to pursue her career. She contributed vocals to McCarthy's
McCarthy (band)
McCarthy were a British indie pop band, formed in Barking, Essex, England in 1984 by schoolmates Malcolm Eden and Tim Gane with John Williamson and Gary Baker...
second and third albums. The band broke up in 1990 and she and Gane immediately formed Stereolab
Stereolab
Stereolab are an alternative music band formed in 1990 in London, England. The band originally comprised songwriting team Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier , both of whom remained at the helm across many lineup changes...
. For the first incarnation of the band, they enlisted ex-Chills
The Chills
The Chills are a guitar and keyboard-based rock band from Dunedin, New Zealand. In the 1980s and 1990s, they were one of the proponents of the Dunedin Sound.- History :...
bassist Martin Kean
Martin Kean
Martin Kean is a New Zealand bass guitarist. He played with The Chills , from November 1983 to June 1984, when Moore rejoined.He formed Stereolab in 1990 with Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier...
, drummer Joe Dilworth and Gina Morris on backing vocals.
While Tim Gane has written the bulk of the music in Stereolab, Sadier is the main contributor of lyrics, written in both English and French. Sadier also plays keyboards, percussion, guitar and trombone.
Collaborations and other projects
In 1996, Sadier formed MonadeMonade
Monade is a Bordeaux, France-based post-rock band which was initially a side project of Lætitia Sadier, a founding member of Stereolab. In the late 1990s, the All-City imprint released a 7" split of Monade's "Ode to a Keyring"/"Witch Hazel" [the a-side of the split featured materials by post-rock...
with Pram
Pram (band)
Pram are an experimental band who formed in the Balsall Heath/Moseley area of Birmingham, England in 1990.-History:Originally from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Rosie Cuckston and Matt Eaton went to school together. They moved to Birmingham in the late 80s, schoolfriend Andy Weir keeping in touch...
's Rosie Cuckston. Monade released the singles "The Sunrise Telling" and "Witch Hazel/Ode to a Keyring" in 1997. The band's debut album Socialisme Ou Barbarie: The Bedroom Recordings was released on Duophonic Records
Duophonic Records
Duophonic Ultra High Frequency Disks Limited, known as Duophonic Super 45s, is a London based independent record label formed by the British pop group Stereolab...
in Europe and Drag City
Drag City (record label)
Drag City is a Chicago-based independent record label. It was established with a Royal Trux release in 1990 in Chicago, Illinois by Dan Koretzky and Dan Osborn.Drag City specializes in experimental indie rock acts...
in the US in 2003. Their second album A Few Steps More was released on Too Pure in 2004. Monade's third, Monstre cosmic, was released in February 2008 on Duophonic.
Sadier has contributed vocals to various groups and projects, at times along with the late Stereolab member Mary Hansen
Mary Hansen
Mary Hansen was a guitarist and singer with Stereolab.Born in Maryborough north of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia, Hansen moved to London in the late 1980s and became a backing singer with the Essex-based indie band, The Wolfhounds.She met Stereolab founder Tim Gane when the Wolfhounds played...
. She and Hansen had contributed vocals to various recordings of The High Llamas
The High Llamas
The High Llamas are a London-based musical group, formed by the Irish guitarist and songwriter Sean O'Hagan after the demise of his group Microdisney. O'Hagan writes and arranges the music and the rest of the group consists of drummer Rob Allum, keyboardist/cellist Marcus Holdaway, and...
(band of sometimes-Stereolab member Sean O'Hagan
Sean O'Hagan
Sean O'Hagan is a founding member of Irish indie band Microdisney. In the 1990s he formed The High Llamas and released a number of highly acclaimed albums showing influences as diverse as The Beach Boys, Ennio Morricone, Antonio Carlos Jobim and avant-garde electronica...
). Sadier added French backing vocals on "To the End", a top 20 hit for Blur
Blur (band)
Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...
in 1994. In 1995, she recorded the Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg, born Lucien Ginsburg was a French singer-songwriter, actor and director. Gainsbourg's extremely varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorize...
/Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot is a French former fashion model, actress, singer and animal rights activist. She was one of the best-known sex-symbols of the 1960s.In her early life, Bardot was an aspiring ballet dancer...
song "Bonnie and Clyde" with Luna
Luna (band)
Luna was a dream pop/indie pop band formed in 1991 by Dean Wareham after the breakup of Galaxie 500, with Stanley Demeski and Justin Harwood...
. In 2001, Sadier sang on "Sol y Sombra" on Fugu's Fugu 1 LP on Minty Fresh
Minty Fresh
Minty Fresh is a Chicago-based record label, founded in 1993 by Jim Powers with Anthony Musiala. The label is known for launching the careers of Veruca Salt. They also gave the Swedish band The Cardigans their first US release and released the debut single by Liz Phair...
Records. In 2002, Sadier sang the chorus on "New Wave" from Common's
Common (rapper)
Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. , better known by his stage name Common , is an American hip-hop artist and actor....
album Electric Circus
Electric Circus
Electric Circus, aka EC, was a Canadian live dance music television program aired on MuchMusic and Citytv. It aired from September 16, 1988 until December 12, 2003....
. She sang lead vocals on "Haiku One" from Sigmatropic's 2004 album Sixteen Haiku & Other Stories which was an album based on the poetry of Greek poet Giorgos Seferis
Giorgos Seferis
Giorgos or George Seferis was the pen name of Geōrgios Seferiádēs . He was one of the most important Greek poets of the 20th century, and a Nobel laureate...
. In 2009 the French label Deux Mille released an EP which features Sadier singing with Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
-based band Momotte.
Throughout the years, Sadier has occasionally collaborated with German electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
group Mouse on Mars
Mouse on Mars
Mouse on Mars is a duo from Germany who have been making electronic music since 1993. Their music is a sometimes quirky blend of IDM, krautrock, disco, and ambient with a heavy dollop of analog synth sounds and cross-frequency modulation...
. In 1997, Sadier sung on "Schnick Schnack Meltmade" on Mouse on Mars
Mouse on Mars
Mouse on Mars is a duo from Germany who have been making electronic music since 1993. Their music is a sometimes quirky blend of IDM, krautrock, disco, and ambient with a heavy dollop of analog synth sounds and cross-frequency modulation...
' Autoditacker
Autoditacker
Third album by German electronica group Mouse on Mars, released in 1997.-Track listing:# "Sui Shop"# "Juju"# "Twift Shoeblade"# "Tamagnocchi"# "Dark FX"# "Scat"# "Tux & Damask"# "Sehnsud"# "X-Flies"# "Schnick Schnack Meltmade"# "Rondio"...
LP, and she and Mary Hansen
Mary Hansen
Mary Hansen was a guitarist and singer with Stereolab.Born in Maryborough north of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia, Hansen moved to London in the late 1980s and became a backing singer with the Essex-based indie band, The Wolfhounds.She met Stereolab founder Tim Gane when the Wolfhounds played...
contributed vocals to the Cache Coeur Naif EP. In turn, Mouse on Mars produced tracks on Stereolab's Dots and Loops
Dots and Loops
Dots and Loops is the fifth studio album by the band Stereolab, released in September 1997. Jan St. Werner of Mouse on Mars contributes to several tracks...
LP. In 2007, Sadier wrote songs with MoM and toured with them in Italy. They have yet to record the songs for release.
Sadier also contributed backing vocals to the track "Go Round" on The Hair and Skin Trading Company
The Hair and Skin Trading Company
The Hair and Skin Trading Company is a British drone / avant-noise group, formed in 1991 by ex-Loop members Neil Mackay and John Wills...
's 1993 album Over Valence.
Sadier also wrote and sang the lyrics to the track "Quick Canal" by Atlas Sound
Atlas Sound
Bradford James Cox is an American musician best known as the lead singer and guitarist of Atlanta, Georgia-based psychedelic and ambient band Deerhunter. He also pursues a solo career under the moniker Atlas Sound. Cox formed Deerhunter with drummer Moses Archuleta in 2001. The band has released...
for the 2009 release Logos
Logos (album)
Logos is the second studio album from ambient experimental project Atlas Sound. It was released on October 19, 2009, in Europe by 4AD, and on October 20 in the US by Kranky Records. The album features guest contributions from Noah Lennox and Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier...
.
Personal life
While she spent most of her formative years in France, Sadier's family travelled extensively and she lived briefly in the US as a child.After many years together, Sadier and Tim Gane
Tim Gane
Tim Gane is the leader of the rock band, Stereolab.He started his musical career as a purveyor of harsh noise in the early 1980s under the alias Unkommuniti releasing self financed cassettes on Black Dwarf Wreckordings along with fellow Unkommuniti members Kallous Boys and other noise projects....
split up in 2004, but they continued to work together in Stereolab until the band's hiatus in 2009. They have a child, Alex, born in 1998.