“Women can make their own beat. I’m a producer, singer and bassist, I just have a lot to say with my music.”
After seven years as lead singer and bassist for Brooklyn-based band Escort, Adeline Michèle has released her first solo album, "ad•uh•leen."
“I’ll tell you a secret, I had another title for the album, and changed it at the last minute," Adeline told amNewYork. "It became apparent to me that because this is my first solo project, and I’ve been in the band so long — it just represented something meaningful to me.”
With this album, Adeline is trying to establish her name. “I want to show who I am as a person. I try to keep a very honest approach with my music.” She makes a recommendation for those who might not know her music: “listen to it with your own ears — make it your own.”
Her style combines funk, R&B and disco. The rock element of her music, she said, “was definitely shaped here.” From the beginning, her music has been influenced by American musicians: Prince, Sylvester, Curtis Mayfield and Chaka Khan, to name a few.
Adeline was born in Paris and has been passionate about art and music for a long time. “I started performing when I was four years old and grew up on stage and writing music.” In 2004, after she graduated from high school, she came to the U.S. to explore her music.
“Initially, I was going to stay for two weeks, but after five days I loved it so much that I just decided to stay,” she said. “And never went back.” Now based in Brooklyn, she says the city has impacted every aspect of her music.
“Before going to college, I wanted to check out New York and the scene. I was in a place, artistically, where I was looking for my sound, my style, my image and my expression,” Adeline said. “I would absolutely not be the artist I am today if it wasn’t for New York City.”
If you go: Adeline performs at C’mon Everybody on Tuesday, 9 p.m., 325 Franklin Ave., Bedford-Stuyvesant, cmoneverybody.com, $12
