* En anglais uniquement
The primary project of Chicago-based singer/songwriter and musician
Haley Fohr,
Circuit des Yeux crafts haunting, emotionally complex music that relates to the human condition. Centered around
Fohr's arresting, four-octave voice and inventive 12-string guitar playing, her music evolved from noisy, lo-fi beginnings to exquisitely arranged albums such as 2015's In Plain Speech and 2017's
Reaching for Indigo, which received much critical acclaim.
Fohr has also diverted from the more introspective work of her main alias with the fantasy-themed alter ego
Jackie Lynn, which blends country, disco, and synth pop influences.
Circuit des Yeux returned in 2021 with
-io, which featured grand orchestral arrangements played by over a dozen musicians from Chicago's jazz, classical, and experimental music scenes.
Indiana native
Haley Fohr began her experimental indie folk project
Circuit des Yeux in 2007, writing and self-recording disturbing, nightmare-like atonal pieces caked in distortion and tape hiss. Her debut LP, Symphone, was released in a limited edition by De Stijl in 2008, followed in 2009 by the more widely available Sirenum on the same label, as well as a 7" single on Dull Knife Records. 2010 saw the release of Ode to Fidelity, a three-song 7" EP on De Stijl that signaled
Fohr's shift to more song-based material, letting her deep, haunting vocals and unsettling lyrics rise to the forefront. Third album Portrait arrived on De Stijl in 2011, sporting a much clearer recording quality, as well as a dirge-like deconstruction of
Bruce Springsteen's "I'm on Fire" recorded live.
Fohr graduated college in 2012, and moved from Bloomington, Indiana to Chicago, where she began collaborating and performing with several artists in the city's vast music communities. The first fruits of her collaborations came in early 2013 with the release of CDY3, a 10" EP on Magnetic South showcasing a trio lineup of
Circuit des Yeux, with bassist Greg Simpson and drummer Clarke Joyner accompanying
Fohr's vocals and guitar playing.
Fohr recorded the fourth
Circuit des Yeux album,
Overdue, with
Cooper Crain of
Cave and
Bitchin Bajas, and self-released the album along with help from Brooklyn-based Ba Da Bing Records. The record continued
Fohr's growth as an artist and songwriter, featuring confessional folk songs as well as caterwauling experimental noise pieces.
Circuit des Yeux toured extensively in 2014, playing over 100 shows with numerous folk and experimental musicians, including
Loren Connors,
Sir Richard Bishop, and
Bill Callahan. Toward the end of the year,
Fohr contributed vocals to The Voice Rolling, an album by
Mind Over Mirrors, the synthesizer/harmonium-based experimental ambient project of ex-Peeesseye musician
Jaime Fennelly. The set was released by Immune Recordings in early 2015, and the duo toured together. Soon after,
Circuit des Yeux signed with well-regarded Chicago-based indie/experimental label Thrill Jockey, which released the project's lushly orchestrated fifth album, In Plain Speech, in May 2015. The label also issued the eponymous debut album by
Fohr's alter ego
Jackie Lynn in 2016.
She moved to
Drag City for the sixth
Circuit des Yeux LP,
Reaching for Indigo, which appeared in 2017.
Meg Remy of
U.S. Girls edited the video for "Paper Bag," the album's first single. The live recording Reaching for Indigo: Gaia Infinitus appeared in 2019.
Fohr revisited her
Jackie Lynn alias with 2020's
Jacqueline.
Circuit des Yeux surfaced on Matador with 2021's
-io, an elaborate work arranged and produced by
Fohr herself. ~ Paul Simpson