Following a five-year hiatus in which she picked up a César Award nomination for her role in A l'Origine and declared that her musical career was "dead," 26-year-old Bordeaux chanteuse
Stephanie Sokolinski, aka
Soko, emerged "reborn" in 2012 with this debut full-length album,
I Thought I Was an Alien. Produced by
Fritz Michaud (
Elliott Smith), the belated follow-up to her 2007 Not Sokute EP features 15 woozy lo-fi alt-pop songs inspired by the likes of
Daniel Johnston and
Leonard Cohen, including the singles "No More Home, No More Love," "First Love Never Die," and the title track, best known for its Spike Jonze-directed video. ~ Jon O'Brien