I
Ysa Ferrer

About:

4 June 1972

Born in Oran, Algeria, the family moved to Chambery, France, when Ysa was two years old. At the age of eightteen she moved to Paris and tried her luck as an actress. In 1992 she got the part of Nadia in the TV series Seconde B. She left the series two years later and continued to work in TV productions (a.o. ‘Fruits et légumes’ with Gad Elmaleh).but also starting to work on a singing career. Sending out demo’s Polydor finally took up on her and released the debut album ‘D'essences naturelles’ in 1995. Three singles were taken from the album but eventually the whole venture turned out to be a commercial failure. A second attempt, with the single ‘Mes rêves’, turned to be more fruitfull and scored a gold record in 1997. The album ‘Kamikaze’ profited from this succes. The album featured an eclectic mix of dance music amongst which a composition by Goran Bregović (‘Ederlezi’). The single ‘Les yeux dans les yeux’ from 1998 gets banned from TV due to being to violent. She has some succes in Sweden with a cover of the Secret Service song ‘Flash in the night’. In 2000, Ysa Ferrer leaves Polydor for EMI. Oddly the label ignores Ysa mostly after signing her up (the recorded single ‘Mourir pour elles’ was never released). Ysa took some time off due to her pregnancy (her daughter Nova-Louna was born in 2001) and signed a new contract with East West in 2002. Again the contract was not born under a lucky sign, it would take a year to get a first single ‘Made in Japan’ released and again the record company put hardly any effort in the promotion.

After the birth of her second child Orian Ben Taylor in 2006 it was finally interest from abroad that got her career going again. In Sweden a remix of ‘Ederlezi’ became a small hit. And it was Russia where Ysa suddenly became the new superstar. ‘Made in Japan’ became a novelty hit. Wisened up Ferrer established her own company, Lovarium Productions, and recorded a new album ‘Imaginaire pur’ in 2008. The succes in Russia made the local attention for her persona grow. While she performed for 40.000 fans in St Petersburg the single ‘To bi or not to bi’ became a hit in France. She gave two sold out shows in Paris later that year of which a live-DVD is released. Late 2009, the singer began working on her fourth album which hits the stores in 2010. The live show called the ‘Paradoxical Show’ opens at the Bobino and Alhambra before embarking on her first French tour. Also of these shows a live-registration is made.

On the web:

- Ysa's website: http://www.ysaferrer.com

If you like this, you probably like... / european counterparts:

Chisu (Finland)

What do we think:

DB: Gay icon and ultimate plastic. Science Fiction Pop in optima forma. If you put a match to her music it will probably melt. Ysa coons, groans and sighs her song over hip electronic music with a high pitched voice. But like sweets it deliciously unpretentious. Exactly what you'd expect from French Lolita Pop what makes it even stranger that she was impopular at home for so long. Maybe it’s because there is some dark and mysterious edge to it. You know that you’re looking at a created fantasyworld made of glitter and fashion but there's a hidden aspect to it on which you cannot lay your finger. No wonder the gay scene adores her. She is the personification of an imagenary diva except that in this case she actually excists.

Albums:

♪♪ - D'essences naturelles - 1995

♪♪♪ - Kamikaze - 1998

♪♪♪♪ - Imaginaire pur - 2008

♪♪♪ - Ultra Ferrer - 2010

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♪♪♪♪♪ = outstanding album, an absolute must-have
♪♪♪♪ = great album, highly recomended
♪♪♪ = nice album
♪♪ = be careful, requires listening before buying
♪ = best to be avoided