Indolore is a French singer-songwriter whose work moves between pop and folk, with earlier roots in jazz. Before adopting the Indolore name, he passes through several musical and professional lives, and his background includes playing in different styles at different points.

Background and early work

In his early musical life, he is drawn to jazz and studies players such as John Coltrane and Miles Davis before moving away from that style and into pop. In pop, he meets two other musicians, begins writing songs with them, and forms the band Shine.

Shine

Shine plays its first show as support for Sia in London, an experience the band describes as moving very quickly. Radio play follows, and after two or three years of work the group releases its first album. Morcheeba responds positively to the record and takes the band on a European tour.

Shine later records with Terry Reid, after Indolore contacts him following a film about the birth of the Glastonbury festival. Reid comes to Paris and records three of his songs. The collaboration helps open a path to the United States, including an invitation to SXSW in Austin in 2010. Shine then releases a final album before ending.

Solo work

After Shine, he continues playing music on Sundays and writes again without a fixed plan. His solo material develops around a more stripped-back approach, with most songs built from live vocal-and-guitar tracks rather than elaborate arrangements. He presents this work in late 2013, aiming for a more direct and personal style.

His solo writing is shaped by melancholy and by the influence of artists such as Nick Drake and José González. He describes music as a way of expressing emotion rather than something he uses to bluff or conceal himself.

Love Letters From Eylenda

Indolore’s EP Love Letters From Eylenda appears in 2017. It continues the sparse, voice-and-guitar-led approach associated with his solo work.