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- The Lovers are a French electronica/ Neo Burlesque band based in Sheffield, England, consisting of real-life lovers Fred de Fred and Marion Benoist. Their music is usually upbeat, satirising French stereotypes, with special fondness for songs about food and sex. The couple started working on music after a chance meeting with Jarvis Cocker, who wrote them the songs 'La Degustation', 'Fred de Fred' and 'Basque Country'. These songs feature on their self-titled debut album, "The Lovers", which was co-produced by Dean Honer and Parrot of All Seeing I, Kevin Bacon and Jon Quarmby (Finley Quaye, Pretenders etc... ), Leigh Devlin and Robin Downe. The Lovers have been at the forefront of the 'Neo Burlesque'/'Gypsy Madness' mouvement, often playing with 'Lost Vagueness'. They have collaborated in the past with Richard Hawley, Kings Have Long Arms frontman Adrian Flanagan, Hiem; they also formed part of I Monster's live show. In previous work, Fred worked for Sheffield studio FON, and has collaborated with acts such as Sweet Exorcist and Nightmares on Wax and tracks from his electro - lounge project 'The Loungitude' has featured on many compilations, including Buddha Bar. Marion is a former bunny girl, who has worked with producers such as Nellee Hooper, and wrote the song 'Wonderland', which took Moloko's Róisín Murphy to number two in the dance charts. Their music has attracted a rapidly growing audience, reaching from the duo’s adopted home of Sheffield to all over the UK, France, The Netherlands, Germany and Singapore. Their recordings have graced TV adverts ('La Le', used on TV advert for McDonalds; 'Crik Crak', on a number of others; 'French Kiss', on the soundtrack of legendary BBC TV series 'Sugar Rush' etc... ) and art installations and are even being used as a grammatical teaching tool by Linguascope and the French Board of Education. Debut album 'The Lovers' got the press hot under the collar - NME described it as “A record so seedy it would make Serge Gainsbourg blush”, just put it down to British reserve. As playful as a swingers party at Salvador Dali’s house, it was also, as Mojo pointed out, packed with “peculiar pop songs with an electronic twist. ” Their 2nd album “Pardon My French”, is now released on ITUNES - AND AS A COLLECTOR LIMITED EDITION (WITH A PEELABLE STICKER) - and was produced and mixed in Austin Texas by their long time friends, Grammy Award Gabe Rhodes (Beth Nielsen Chapman, Willie Nelson, Kimmie Rhodes, Billy Joe Shaver etc …) and Joe Gracey (Steve Ray Van, Ray Campi, Butch Hancock, Joe King Carrasco, Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys etc... ) Here, The Lovers are back where they love to be - back in the speakers, recounting their sensual adventures. The tunes are bigger, the lyrics even more risqué (‘John ’), their wine-fuelled bid for entente-cordiale even more forcused. When they’re cheeky ("Friends”, “Chickaboom”) they’re irresistible. When they’re steamy, (“Reverie De Lolita”, “Striptease For Beginners”) you’ll be wondering why all pop isn’t this smart and sassy. Their live performances are not to be missed, “The set climaxes with Fred de Fred dropping to his knees, sliding between singer Marion’s pins and convulsing with his guitar like a human sex toy” (NME), "Marion is stunning. She wears next to nothing, flirts with her all body, sings about stripping and makes every male and nearly every female trapped in an unavoidable lust. They play tight, they sound good, they seem to be having a great time, they are truly great. The set ends with Fred de Fred playing the guitar between his lovers legs; and that my friend was worth the ticket price and so much more" (THE LOVERS AT LOST VAGUENESS, HALLAM STUDENTS UNION), "The atmosphere here tonight has remained delightful; the audience totally rapt with the performance The Lovers give, which is a perfectly executed one. They are a pleasure to watch (or should that be 'experience'?) and the evening feels like a real event, a real breath of unselfconscious revelling... " Sandman Magazine (Rebecca Tattersall) They are accompanied on stage by guitar player Bryan Day (Carmen Ghia and The Hotrods, Tony Christie) and drummer Marc Hoad (Pink Grease). They also have just released on iTunes a remix album of their self titled debut album, called "Menage A Trois" from the likes of Hiem, Ross Orton of Fat Truckers, Robin Taylor-Firth of Nightmares on Wax and Budnubac, DJ Sophie Toes (Dirty Washing), Naum Gabo (Optimo, Kill The DJ), Leigh Devlin (Minus Blue), Kid Twist (Beat Down The Upset), Monsieur R. Downe (Sarah Jay)...... The band are not to be confused with Tom Hingley's The Lovers, a band formed by the former frontman of Inspiral Carpets
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