London-raised, Paris-born singer-songwriter Francine Belle has just released her debut single, ‘Beautiful Heights’ (15th September) via Golden Ratio Records. Francine Belle has performed backing vocals for singer-songwriter legend Elton John and award-winning artist Bright Light Bright Light and honed her craft with many other creative collaborations and projects such as studying music at The BRIT school, touring UK and Europe with her former band and performing. Ed Boyer and Bill Hare, who have worked with world-renowned American a capella group Pentatonix, stepped in for the mixing and mastering of her brand new single, as well as Grammy award-winning arranger, music director, producer, engineer Ben Bram, who arranges music for Pentatonix and helped with vocals and arrangement on ‘Beautiful Heights’.
Francine Belle was born into a very musical Nigerian family in Paris and started making music from a young age. Moving to London with her family when she was a child, she has gained a sparkling cosmopolitan way about her and still loves to travel to this day. One of the wonderful things about Francine Belle is how multifaceted she is; on top of studying at The BRIT school, she also holds a degree in English Literature from Cambridge University, all in addition to her passion for singing, writing and producing music. Top this all off with exquisite natural Nigerian beauty, style and a fashion-forward sensibility and you have the innovative Francine Belle.
A true appreciator of progressive and dynamic pop, Francine Belle cites Beyonce, Lana Del Rey, Florence & The Machine, SZA and Michael Jackson as part of her influences. In ‘Beautiful Heights’, Francine Belle displays not only her exceptional vocal talents, but her thoughtful lyric-writing too; the lyrics, “Lucky lovers we’re riding on the sky above us / We’re shedding all our earthly anchors / The only way is up,” are poignant and uplifting and mirror the mood of the song’s layered vocals that flawlessly fall over one another. Her sound incorporates strong and soaring vocal melodies comparable to the work of soulful pop icon Solange Knowles, combined with a quirky aesthetic and sound similar to Sia. Francine Belle is the musician writing pop music that transcends the everyday optimism of pop songs that have come before it; instead, she transforms pop into high art using intelligent song design, beautifully executed vocal lines and exciting rhythms.
On her latest single, ‘Beautiful Heights’, Francine Belle explains: “This song came to me in a dream almost fully formed – chorus melody and lyrics. I rolled over in bed grabbed my phone and recorded the voicenote, before promptly falling back asleep. I think I still have the voicenote, with yawns in it and everything.”