Frou Frou (band)

Heap and Sigsworth met in the mid-1990s on the London music scene, Sigsworth coming to the attention of Heap and her record label due to his writing/production/keyboard-playing work with Seal and Björk.[3] Their first work together consisted of Heap providing extra vocals for Sigsworth's band Acacia. She subsequently contributed to the live Acacia lineup at several concerts, became a significant "floating member" of the band (although never a full member) and sang on all but one track on Acacia's ill-fated debut album Cradle.

Sigsworth subsequently contributed to Heap's debut album,[4] i Megaphone, which was released on the now defunct Almo Sounds in 1998. Together they wrote the first single to be taken from i Megaphone, the angst-ridden "Getting Scared," which Sigsworth also produced, and the B-side to the album's second single, "Shine," entitled "Airplane."

Heap went on to tour i Megaphone internationally, promoting the record, while Sigsworth (following the split of Acacia in 1997) continued to write and produce for other artists, including Madonna and Lamb.[3] Having remained friends, the pair kept in contact.

In 2001, Sigsworth began to put together an album under the project name of "Frou Frou". The initial project outline was for a collection of tracks written and produced by Sigsworth and added to by singers, songwriters, poets or rappers. The name "Frou Frou" (pronounced "froo froo") was chosen by Sigsworth himself, a noted Francophile. It derives from the 1870 Rimbaud poem, "Ma Bohème," and is French onomatopoeia for the swishing noise made by skirts on dancing women. Frou-Frou is also the name of Count Vronsky's tragic horse in Tolstoy's Anna Karenina.

One of the first vocalists Sigsworth contacted was Imogen Heap. Heap relates that Sigsworth invited her to his studio to write lyrics for a four-bar motif he had, on condition that she included the word "love" somewhere. The first line she came up with was "lung of love, leaves me breathless"; thus the Details album track "Flicks" was born. A week later, Sigsworth phoned her again and together they wrote and recorded "Breathe In", which would eventually become the first Frou Frou single.

At the time, Heap was in career limbo. Her record label had folded, been bought, and subsequently disbanded, leaving her without a record contract (despite her second album being written and ready to record). Having been stalled for a year, she welcomed the opportunity to begin collaborating on new tracks with Sigsworth.

Further collaborations continued throughout the year with both Heap and Sigsworth playing equal roles in writing, instrumentation and production until nearly half the album was completed. In December 2001, Sigsworth and Heap made the conscious decision to establish themselves as a formal duo project. Heap approved of the name "Frou Frou", and it was kept as the band title. The first official Frou Frou release was a remix of "Airplane" (renamed "Aeroplane") which the duo had completed for the Japanese re-release of Heap's debut album.

In 2002, Frou Frou signed a record deal with Universal Records on the Island Records imprint in the UK and Europe, and MCA Records in the USA. They released their first and only album, Details in June 2002. An album of electronic music with elements of trip hop, pop and rock, the eclectic, intricately produced tracks use a wide range of traditional instruments including cellos, autoharps, guitars, keyboards, and Indian drums, with layered vocals from Heap.[5]

The album received critical acclaim, but this did not translate into mass sales the duo had hoped for. "Breathe In" was released as the first single internationally. It reached number two on the Italian radio airplay charts, and debuted in the Top 50 in the UK Singles Chart.[6] The follow-up singles "Must Be Dreaming" and "It's Good To Be in Love" were shelved from commercial release in the UK, however, through lack of radio and TV interest. "Breathe In" and "Must Be Dreaming" did become minor hits in Asia, particularly in Indonesia, where both singles made Top 10, peaking at number 7 and 5 respectively on the Indonesian Airplay Chart.

A video was made for a fourth single from the album, the closer "The Dumbing Down of Love", directed by Joel Peissig[7] (who later directed Heap's solo video "Hide and Seek"[8]). After touring the record extensively across the United States, where the duo had established a cult fan base, Frou Frou amicably disbanded in 2004.[9]

Heap and Sigsworth recorded a cover version of "Holding Out for a Hero" for the Shrek 2 soundtrack. The duo were approached by the music director of the film, who had been a fan of Details. Frou Frou also experienced a resurgence in popularity in 2004, when Scrubs star Zach Braff chose "Let Go" as the key track for his independent film, Garden State.

The duo also worked together in 2003 on a track for Britney Spears's fourth album In The Zone,[3] entitled "Over To You Now". The track was written by Sigsworth, Swedish pop star Robyn and her long-term songwriting companion, and Sigsworth asked Heap to come in and make the song more suitable for Spears, adding backing vocals and making the track more electronic music-infused. Despite not being used on In The Zone, the track was released in late 2005 on the Japan CD single of Spears' single, "Someday (I Will Understand)" and on the UK and Japan bonus CDs of the DVD release of her reality TV show, Britney and Kevin: Chaotic.

In November 2017, it was announced that Heap and Sigsworth would be reuniting to tour as Frou Frou in conjunction with an Imogen Heap solo tour in 2018.[10] In April 2019, Frou Frou released a live recording of "Guitar Song", their first new single in 15 years and one of two singles not released at the time of the band's initial break-up.[11]