Alternative Darkwave Dreampop from Boston, MA. At the start of 2010, Eliza Brown was living in Paris and pondering her future. She often found herself spontaneously singing with street musicians or lending her voice to original projects, most notably Copy, Cut & Paste. But despite leading a creative and active social life, she had set her sights on venturing abroad to her father’s homeland of America. In August of that year, Eliza followed her heart and crossed the Atlantic.
It was around this time that Plumerai was facing an uncertain future. Having returned from Greece and releasing their second album, ‘Your Guilty Prize’, vocalist Elizabeth Ezell fled New England for the warmer climates of Southern California. Coincidentally, it was around this time that the apartment Martin shared with Ezell caught fire and he found himself homeless. In order to take his mind off the search for a new home and the uncertain future of Plumerai, he accepted an invitation to a party. It was there that an enchanting young French woman singing a rendition of the classic song “Summertime” caught his attention. He was enthralled by her voice and introduced himself at the first opportunity. The two of them spent the rest of that party bonding over music and the expatriate experience. As a result of that chance meeting, Eliza proved to be the proverbial stone to Martin’s two birds. He moved in with Eliza shortly after and the two composed their first song together “Troubled Soul” thus breathing new life into Plumerai.
Reinvigorated with Eliza Brown’s talent and enthusiasm, Plumerai began writing song after song and it became apparent that her influence on the writing process was leading the band into new territory. Eliza’s jazz influences and pop sensibilities blended perfectly with Plumerai’s already established post-punk/dreampop soundscapes to create something that was both new and fresh, yet at the same time familiar. Imagine if Ella Fitzgerald or Josephine Baker fronted the Cure or Siouxise & The Banshees. Martin’s moody and brooding musical pieces created a perfectly unexpected backdrop to Eliza’s songs about her American adventures. It was a winning combination and by 2012 they had written and recorded their latest album ‘Mondegreen’ an emotional and sophisticated exploration of America through the eyes of a young French woman. The reinvented Plumerai went out on a tour of the country to support the album and have recently set their sights on heading back across the Atlantic.
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