Le Fil

Fusing freestyle jazz, African-hued rhythms, and the melancholy strains of her native Gallic music, French songstress Camille belongs to the exotic world of alt-pop. Her creations are keen and quirky, ignoring all the rules about tempi, choruses and middle eights while remaining highly listenable.

Put "Au Port" on a couple of times and it will become your tune of the week, sans doute. Formerly lead vocalist of Nouvelle Vague, Le Fil sees her going solo as innovator and idiosyncratic entertainer. Her breathy, fragile, high-pitched voice means she often sounds like a child, but there's a passionate intensity beneath the surface and a kind of urchin's knowing playfulness. There are obvious comparisons with Bjork, Joanna Newsom and Louise Post, but Camille is altogether more emotive, more sensual and more likeable. She also has a range of guises, from dark angel on "Vertige" to the beautiful "Pour que l'amour me quitte" where sweetness and tenderness are slipped gently into the repertoire. Le Fil is that rare thing - a genuine surprise, without obvious antecedents, and a quite gorgeous pop album too.