* En anglais uniquement
London-based singer, songwriter, cellist, and producer
Kelsey Lu constructs their dreamy, off-balance alternative music with a mix of classical chamber, folk, and electronic components, topping off intricate arrangements with soulful vocals. They released their first EP, the spare
Church, in 2016 before expanding their palette with layered electronics and instruments including strings, guitars, and multi-tracked vocals. Their studio debut,
Blood, landed in 2019. As a studio musician, they have collaborated with artists including
Solange,
Florence + the Machine, and
Blood Orange.
A classically trained cellist from Charlotte, North Carolina, Kelsey Elizabeth McJunkins enrolled at the North Carolina School of the Arts as an 18-year-old before relocating to New York City. They had contributed cello and/or vocals to recordings by
Lady Gaga,
Solange, and
Blood Orange, among others, by the end of 2016, the year they made their label debut with the
Church EP. Recorded live in a church in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, with their cello and a loop pedal, it was produced by
Patrick Wimberly (
Chairlift) and issued by True Panther Sounds.
Lu performed cello on albums by
Father John Misty and
Kelela in 2017 before returning with a more complex, layered sound in 2018 on singles such as "Shades of Blue" and "Due West," which were among their first releases for Columbia Records. That year, they also collaborated with
Sampha on a cover of
Joni Mitchell's "River." In the meantime, they relocated to Los Angeles and appeared on 2018 LPs by
Florence + the Machine,
Oneohtrix Point Never, and again,
Blood Orange. They started 2019 with an appropriately dreamy cover of
10cc's "I'm Not in Love," which appeared on their full-length debut,
Blood. Months later, they issued a remix set titled Blood Transfusion.
Into the 2020s,
Lu teamed with
Yves Tumor for "let all the poisons that lurk in the mud seep out," appeared on Onyx Collective's "Where or When," and collaborated with
Boys Noize on "Ride or Die." ~ Marcy Donelson