Who is Elodie Gervaise, the Berlin-based singer reshaping French house?

By Violaine Schütz.

Published on 9 June 2023. Updated on 29 June 2026.

In recent years, a lot of strong aesthetics from the 1990s and 2000s have returned to pop culture, such as rave, gabber, riot grrls and cyber-punk movements. In France, artists like Joanna, Ascendant Vierge and Régina Demina are part of a gothic revival mixed with electronic music. In the United States, Willow Smith, Olivia Rodrigo and Halsey gave the emo aesthetic a new lease of life. This teen punk music, which emerged in the 1980s and dominated the following decade, is easily recognisable thanks to lyrics focused on self-expression.

Elodie Gervaise, rising star of synthetic pop and house

The melodies of the French-Australian singer’s debut EP, released in 2021, and her pictorial universe follow that trend. Her universe shapes a new interpretation of classic beauty. In the video for her 2021 single, IMYG (I’M Your Guy), the 33-year-old artist walks around in a black latex jumpsuit reminiscent of the cult cyberpunk saga Matrix. A dark sci-fi universe that suits the mysticism of his songs well. In the photos accompanying Parfaite (2023), her hedonistic house hit in French and produced by the Berliner from South Africa, Thor Rixon, she displays the full panoply of the Y2K revival trend, including rectangular orange glasses.

Fully rooted in her time, Elodie Gervaise crafts songs on her guitar and synth, and tackles very contemporary themes. Among the tracks of his first EP, Syzygy (2021), she sings about her anguish in the face of the ecological emergency and the lack of political action. On another track, Free Babe, she talks without taboos about the place that mental illness takes in a romantic relationship. The difficulty of creating links with other human beings seems to fascinate the young artist.

The name of her EP, Syzygy, means a conjunction or opposition in astronomy. “Syzygy” is used to speak of a rare, magical alignment of three celestial objects. It can be the Sun, the Earth and the Moon. “For me, this EP means connection, universal and intimate, from human to human. Tarot cards and astrology, which give me strength and are great tools for me, guide my power. Like a cat, I’m a night owl. I like the feeling of spontaneity the night can bring, the surprise encounters, the stories of the people I meet…“

Influences ranging from Sevdaliza and Yseult to Björk

For Elodie Gervaise, a bit of a witch in her spare time, the planets finally seem to be in tune. The singer-songwriter, born on the East Coast of Australia to a French father and an Australian mother, formed two psychedelic and lo-fi rock bands in Australia a few years ago, Galaxy Girls and Candy Lucid. She also worked as an architect there, before moving to Paris to study music. “It feels like it was another life. But both fields, music and architecture, offer sensory experiences and give us the space to feel things more deeply.” 

Since then, she has entirely devoted herself to music. The question of space(s) has been paramount. At the crossroads of cultures and continents, Elodie Gervaise finds her inspiration and delivers melancholic and danceable tracks. “I grew up with Leonard Cohen, the Beatles and French artists like Jacques Brel. Later, when I lived in Byron Bay, I discovered a world of female strength through Big Thief, Warpaint and Mazzy Star or psychedelic rock with The Black Angels and The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Since then, Europe has awakened in me a sensitivity to electronic music. Today, I would say that my major inspirations are artists like Sevdaliza, Yseult and Björk.” 

Elodie Gervaise‘s experimental and lunar music evokes both the Icelandic artist she adores but also Swedish synthpop singer Molly Nilsson. Enough to bode well for the future of the Franco-Australian, who recently covered a song by Joy Division on YouTube. Especially when you know that the craziest thing that the artist ever did was to take LSD in a hot air balloon.

Perfect (2023) by Thor Rixon and Elodie Gervaise, available now.