Bellefolie. It’s hard to ignore an evocative artist name like that. I was concerned the front woman might be Esmerelda Glutz in real life, but it turns out to be Isabell Aga Engelsen, who is the chief writer and keyboardist here although there are other key band members too.
‘Beautiful Madness’ is how it translates and that instantly transports me back to the Paris of my misspent youth (just after the Revolution, it seems that long ago), happily frittering away my days on the Left Bank and nights wandering the length of the Boulevard de Clichy and the Place Pigalle.
Isabell is Norwegian, out of Bergen presently, and a French speaker, so I guess that’s how that French moniker was picked up.
It seems she has a multimedia background as a film and TV writer and as part of an international network for female producers so she hasn’t just arrived out of left field.
Having said that this is only her/their third single, the previous two – the debut ‘In the Clouds’ and the follow up, ‘Modern Apathy’ – having picked up regular airplay across Scandinavia and in France. Mon Dieu!
I was taken aback by the quality of it.
‘Your Gates’ (not Bill), is about being in the process of losing someone, and how far you are willing to go to reach them. In this case it is by “cracking open your gates” and “taking on all your pain”, as if exorcising a malign spirit.
Reading the lyrics, I understand that ‘losing someone’ means literally that, not just a broken love affair, and that the song is along the lines of Shakespears Sister’s ‘Stay’, itself a very powerful song. (‘In the Clouds’ dealt with overwhelming grief).
And ‘Your Gates’ is just that. Powerful.
It switches back and forward between a sultry ballad and a tremendous synth and cello-led cinematic anthem and drips with emotion from beginning to end.
Ms Engelsen is a terrific vocalist and equally adept at handling the softer parts and the spine tingling ones, along with the transition between them.
She says her inspiration comes from a Who’s Who of female Nordic stars including Björk, Susanne Sundfør, AURORA and Emilie Nicolas, and with Nina Simone thrown in for good measure.
I suppose if you wanted to you could hear all of those in the song and how she delivers it. The Icelandic pixie is the one that stands out to me but I also noticed little vocal tricks that I associate with Sol Heilo as well.
At the end of the day though, none of that matters. Bellefolie is setting down a marker with these early singles, and especially this one, which tells me we will be hearing much more of her/them in the future and that I already have my first entry for ‘Song of the Year 2025.’
I read that Bellefolie is noted for a unique presentation and stage presence and that extensive touring is amongst the main aims for 2025; and I hope that might include the UK somewhere along the line.
Find her/them on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61554815578790
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bellefoliemusic/
