Lætitia Sadier

Infobox musical artist
Name = Lætitia Sadier


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Background = solo_singer
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Born = Birth date and age|1968|05|06|mf=y
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Origin = France
Instrument = Vocals, Synthesizers, Guitar
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Years_active = 1987 - Present
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Associated_acts = Stereolab, Monade
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Lætitia Sadier (born May 6, 1968, sometimes known as Seaya Sadier, Or, aka "The Shah" after an Anglophone rendering of the last syllable of her forename) is a French musician best-known as the singer of the influential experimental pop band Stereolab.

tereolab

Sadier was working as a nanny when she met McCarthy leader Tim Gane at a gig in Paris during the late 1980s. Sadier was disillusioned with the rock scene in France, and soon moved to London to be with Gane and to pursue her career. She had contributed vocals to McCarthy's third and final album. The band broke up in 1990 and she and Gane immediately formed Stereolab. For the first incarnation of the band, they enlisted ex-Chills bassist Martin Kean, drummer Joe Dilworth and Gina Morris on backing vocals cite web | url= http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=STEREOLAB&sql=11:fxftxql5ldde~T1 | title= Stereolab Biography at Allmusic.com] .

While Tim Gane has written the bulk of the music in Stereolab, it is Sadier's singsong, alto vocals and often revolutionary lyrics (both in English and French) that have become trademarks of the band's sound. Sadier also plays keyboards, percussion, guitar and trombone.

Monade and other projects

In 1996, Sadier formed the spin-off band Monade with Pram's Rosie Cuckston. Monade released the singles "The Sunrise Telling" and "Witch Hazel/Ode to a Keyring" in 1997. The band's debut album "Socialisme Ou Barbarie: The Bedroom Recordings" was released on Duophonic Records in Europe and Drag City in the U.S. in 2003. The band's second album "A Few Steps More" was released on Too Pure in 2004. Monade's third, "Monstre cosmic", was released in February 2008 on Duophonic.

Sadier has contributed vocals to various other groups and projects, at times along with the late Stereolab member Mary Hansen. Among her contributions were, adding French backing vocals on "To the End", a top 20 hit for Blur in 1994. In 1995, Sadier had recorded the Serge Gainsbourg/Brigitte Bardot song "Bonnie and Clyde" with Luna. She and Hansen had contributed vocals to the recordings of the High Llamas (the project of sometimes-Stereolab member Sean O'Hagan) In 2001, Sadier sang on "Sol y Sombra" by Fugu's "Fugu 1" LP on Minty Fresh Records. In 2002, Sadier sang the chorus on "New Wave" from Common's album "Electric Circus". She sang lead vocals on "Haiku One" from Sigmatropic's 2004 album "Sixteen Haiku & Other Stories" which was an album based on the poetry of Greek poet George Seferis.

Throughout the years, Sadier has occasionally collaborated with German electronica group Mouse on Mars. In 1997, Sadier had sung on "Schnick Schnack Meltmade" on MoM's Autoditacker LP, and she and Mary Hansen had contributed vocals to the "Cache Coeur Naif" EP. In turn, Mouse on Mars had produced tracks on Stereolab's Dots and Loops LP. In 2007, Sadier had wrote songs with MoM and had toured with them in Italy. They have yet to record the songs for release cite web | url= http://www.cokemachineglow.com/feature/3417/interview-laetitia-sadier | title= Laetitia Sadier Interview at Cokemachineglow.com] .

Personal life

While she spent most of her formative years in France, Sadier's family had travelled extensively, and she had briefly lived in America as a child cite web | url= http://www.cokemachineglow.com/feature/3417/interview-laetitia-sadier | title= Laetitia Sadier Interview at Cokemachineglow.com] .

After years of marriage, Sadier and Tim Gane had divorced in 2004 cite web | url= http://www.magnetmagazine.com/interviews/stereolab.html | title= Stereolab Interview at Magnet Magazine] . They share a single child, Alex, born in 1998.

References

External links

* [http://arbobo.over-blog.com/article-16683148.html Laetitia Sadier talks about her music and singing] (interview in French).
* [http://www.cokemachineglow.com/feature/3417/interview-laetitia-sadier Laetitia Sadier talks about her career and the album, Monstre Cosmic]