Au Revoir Simone

Au Revoir Simone is an indie pop group from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York. It forms in late 2003 and is active from 2003 to the present. The group consists of Heather D’Angelo, Erika Forster and Annie Hart. Their lineup initially includes Sung Bin Park, who joins Forster, Hart and D’Angelo before leaving in December 2004, after which the trio format is set.

Sound and name

The band builds a dreamy, synth-led style that sits across indie pop, electronic music, dream pop and synth-pop. The three members all handle vocals and keyboards, with Annie Hart also playing bass and Heather D’Angelo also using a drum machine. The group’s name comes from a line in Tim Burton’s 1985 film Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.

Early formation and releases

Forster and Hart meet on a train returning to New York from Vermont and connect over the idea of forming an all-keyboard band. Au Revoir Simone then releases its debut album, Verses of Comfort, Assurance & Salvation, on its own label, Our Secret Record Company. The album is later issued in Europe by Moshi Moshi Records and in Japan by the Rallye Label. It is noted for its ethereal synth-pop sound.

The band’s second album, The Bird of Music, follows in 2007. It leads to touring with Peter Bjorn and John and Voxtrot, and attracts attention for its distinctive sound. The group’s third album, Still Night, Still Light, is produced by Thom Monahan and is also praised for its light electronic style. In 2013, Au Revoir Simone releases its fourth studio album, Move in Spectrums, on the revived Instant Records label associated with Richard Gottehrer. The band later issues the digital single “Red Rabbit” in 2015.

Live work and later activity

Au Revoir Simone tours in the US, Canada and Europe in 2006 with We Are Scientists. It performs at the Fondation Cartier in Paris in 2007 as part of a David Lynch retrospective, with a set styled after Eraserhead. That same year, the group appears at the Treasure Island Music Festival and the Monolith Festival. In 2009 it plays the Lovebox Festival in London and ends the year with a headline tour of Japan.

In 2010, the band launches an interactive music video for “Knight of Wands,” designed in a colouring-book style that lets viewers take part in the video’s creation. After its 2013 album, the group continues to appear in Lynch-related projects, including a performance at the Roadhouse in the 2017 revival of Twin Peaks, and it also appears on the Storyboard podcast in 2021.

Related projects

Erika Forster forms Summer Moon in 2015 and Nice as Fuck in 2016. Annie Hart releases a solo album in 2017.