Franco-Belgian producer and singer Penelope Antena shares haunting electronic ode 'Bonfire'

New album James & June out September 19th via Youngbloods & Parapente Music

FFO: James Blake, FKA Twigs, Bon Iver, Imogen Heap

Supported by: NPR, Atwood Mag, Rolling Stone France

New single 'Bonfire' premiered via Foxy Digitalis HERE

Franco-Belgian singer, songwriter, and producer Penelope Antena announces James & June, her third-full length album in collaboration with Brooklyn-based record label Youngbloods and Parisian imprint Parapente Music, set for release on September 19th, 2023.

Accessing the joy of newfound love, Penelope explores romance, intimacy, and the safety of partnership across eleven piano-driven, electronic compositions. James & June stands as Penelope’s most personal work to date, calling on her shapeshifting, multidimensional production stylings to mold a collection of soulful hymns and warm electroacoustic musings.

The announcement comes with the release of new electronic ballad 'Bonfire', out today. The new single is one of the most aurally intimate works on the album, spotlighting the weight of Penelope’s cinematic vocal talents and songwriting. Her sonorous voice, placed against an ensemble of emotive piano, synthesisers, ghostly strings, and whispering rhythms, casts wide-reaching theatrical shadows against the walls of Penelope’s ambitions as a partner. Penelope on the track: "Bonfire is the result of a writing session with my friend and collaborator, producer Bforrest at my studio in the woods. The song is entirely improvised, B was on keys and I was holding the mic. It truly was one of those mystical moments in life when two people connect and magic happens. "

Penelope’s previous solo releases, Antelope (KowTow Records, 2019) and Beamorose (Youngbloods, 2021), displayed her artistry beyond the shadow of her creative legacy, underlining her unique interest in experimentation and propelling her family’s musical tradition into a modern era. The granddaughter of pianist and jazz-rock pioneer Marc Moulin (Placebo, Telex) and daughter of electro-samba icon Isabelle Powaga (Antena), Penelope’s musicianship was deeply influenced by loved ones as they encouraged her to practice her craft and stand out from her peers.

Antelope, an album almost entirely composed in solitude, saw mutated instrumentation bound to twisting vocal melodies - her singing breaching the surface tension of her synthesised compositions to reach soaring heights. In contrast, Beamorose presented a more luminous and collaborative side to Penelope’s song creation, drawing on gospel, folk, and Americana sensibilities. The widening of Penelope’s sonic palette enabled an authority to command a range of voices while putting her own perspective front and center; her expression reached the listener in ways that were increasingly pure and polychromatic.

In turn, Penelope’s output was heralded internationally by the likes of NPR, Rolling Stone France, and Atwood Magazine, who praised her music for its adventurousness and vulnerability and her music has been featured on the recent Dreamland show soundtrack, which starred Lily Allen.

James & June synchronizes the introspection and range of musical influence in Penelope’s previous records while offering a newfound simplicity in its composition. Biographically, this record is about falling in love; it follows Penelope processing the feelings of excitement, hopes, dreams, insecurities, and goals that come with being head over heels as an adult with an already full life.

“Will I ever be enough?” “Am I worth your time?” “Am I loving you too much?

Penelope looks to explore a newly discovered corner of her life, searching for answers by collecting the butterflies in her stomach and bringing them into focus - a tender bullseye in the scope of her eighty-eight keyed weapon of creation.

Whether through the implicitness of her songwriting or the explicitness of her lyrics, there is a clarity in Penelope’s work that suggests a new phase of her personal and artistic growth; one that rings true to herself, while making room for others to join her in creating harmony. More simply put, love is a most powerful muse.

James & June will be released on physical and digital formats September 19th, 2023 on Brooklyn-based imprint Youngbloods and Parisian label Parapente Music.

Penelope Antena announces album James & June via Youngbloods snd Parapente

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