Alice Phoebe Lou plays Rough Trade East London & Bush Hall + The Great Escape Festival

By Jamie Morrell

On May 12, 2016

In News

Alice Phoebe Lou reveals live session for ‘Orbit’ below

debut album out now

plays Rough Trade East London on 16 May & London’s Bush Hall on 17 May

+ The Great Escape Festival 19 May

“Meticulously crafted” – Gold Flake Paint

“It’s a bold offering, with her vivid talent providing an arresting, fascinating watch” – Clash Magazine

Tracklisting: 1. Girl On An Island 2. Society 3. Red 4. Take Flight 5. Haruki 6. Walking In The Garden 7. Amsterdam 8. Orbit 9. The City Sleeps

Alice Phoebe Lou is a force to be reckoned with. Growing up in Kommetjie, South Africa, Alice knew that as soon as she finished school she would pack up her things and see the world. She left home at the age of 17 on an unplanned trip to Europe, and discovered her love for street performance as she travelled from city to city. When she moved to Berlin a year later, she started her career as a street musician in earnest, drawing in an increasing number of listeners every time she played at “her office” on street corners and train stations. Alice has now become a fixture of the city’s vibrant music scene.

Since her first official show in Berlin in July 2014 where she sold out Berlin’s Lido (600cap) off one FB post Alice has played at churches in London, music Halls in NYC, cafes in L.A., on the west bank in Palestine, on the streets of Paris, living rooms in Amsterdam, in Johannesburg supporting the Lumineers, in Cape Town to help build a new fence to support a sustainable farm…not the usual string of shows, but shows, venues and locations that make perfect sense to Alice.

In the last year Alice’s musical journey has taken her well beyond the German capital. Last summer saw her playing shows and festival stages across the UK, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Hungary, from ‘Fusion’ to ‘Secret Garden Party’ to psych trance festival ‘OZORA’ where she’ll be performing again this year. She toured up and down the US west coast, played at the Great Escape in Brighton (2015 and 2016), SXSW (2015 and 2016), CMJ (2015), and performed and spoke at the TED Global event in London (2015).

Alice started this year on tour in her native South Africa with Sixto Rodriguez, followed by a European tour with Australian band Boy & Bear before heading off to the US to play at SXSW as well as a string of shows in the US (SF, LA and NYC).

This coming May she will embark on her own European tour together with her band. EUROPEAN TOUR 2016. Every step of the way Alice aims to perform short solo sets at record stores and on the streets of the cities she visits on tour.

The main stage Alice has played now hundreds of times are the streets of Berlin where she has sold nearly 10 thousand copies of her debut EP and Live Album directly to fans, and in this way funded the recording of her debut album “Orbit”.

Orbit comprises nine jazz-influenced, eclectic tracks recorded between Cape Town and Berlin that encapsulate the freshness of her live style, vagabond spirit and showcase her distinctive, soprano voice.

“Orbit” will be released worldwide (ex-N.America) on the 22nd of April in her own independent fashion.

Listen to first single from the album “Walking in the Garden”

Second single “Red”

Alice stands for that part of you that knows the world should somehow be different, and rears its head occasionally in defiance of the norms, the rules, and the crushing inequality that is our modern life. She tells this story in her lyrics, asks us to be kinder to one another and explores how it feels to be alive, all the while lighting the world up around her with her infectious charisma. It’s undeniable.

Tour dates:

Mon 25 Apr 2016 Pumpehuset – Lille Sal Copenhagen, Denmark

Sun 01 May 2016 La maison sage Paris, France

Tue 03 May 2016 Knust Hamburg, Germany

Thu 05 May 2016 Gebäude 9 Cologne, Germany

Fri 06 May 2016 Paradiso Kleine Zaal Amsterdam, Netherlands

Fri 13 May 2016 Passionskirche Berlin, Germany

Tue 17 May 2016 Bush Hall London, UK

Wed 18 May 2016 The Workman’s Club Dublin, Ireland

Thu 19 May 2016 — Sat 21 May 2016 The Great Escape 2016 Brighton, UK

Sat 21 May 2016 Ancienne Belgique (AB) Brussels, Belgium

Sun 22 May 2016 Debaser Bar Brooklyn Stockholm, Sweden