Born in the early 60s in Ariège, in the Pyrenees, Arielle Burgelin came from a long line of French aristocrats. She was brought up by her psychiatrist mother and her formative childhood years were divided between Lyons, Paris and the Beauce countryside. The singer remained attached to her Ariège roots throughout her career, however. In fact, Ariège was one of the principal themes of Arielle's debut album.

After living off a series of odd jobs in her teens, Arielle went on to try her hand at modelling, posing for some of the world's most famous fashion photographers including Helmut Newton and William Klein. But Arielle soon grew tired of the fashion world and called a halt to her modelling career after just a few years. She decided to become a full-time student instead, enrolling in courses in psychology, astrology and drama. Meanwhile, the budding young songwriter also began experimenting with her first lyrics and musical arrangements. In 1989 the French songwriter Pierre Grillet encouraged Arielle to record her first single, "Ste Thérèse d'Avila", but the single failed to make any impact on the French music scene whatsoever.

Shortly afterwards, Arielle made the acquaintance of the French journalist Jean-Michel Gravier. The pair hit it off immediately and went on to embark upon a period of intense collaboration together. This resulted in the release of Arielle's first (entirely self-financed) album, "Juste pour la force", in 1994. 500 copies of the album were pressed but sadly, Jean-Michel Gravier died of AIDS before they reached the stores. Over the following months, Arielle devoted herself to a promotional tour of her album. Arielle's vocal talent, her personal charisma and her strange (part crude, part dream-like) lyrics found favour with French music critics but the record-buying public was altogether less impressed.

Undeterred by the commercial failure of her first album, Arielle returned to the studio a couple of years later. Her second album, "Toute une vie à une", was released in 1996. Striking the same sophisticated note as her first album, "Toute une vie à une" brought Arielle's sensual, deep vocals to the fore on songs which evoked dreams, travels and an inner voyage of discovery.

Arielle wrote all the lyrics for her second album herself, leaving the musical arrangements to numerous friends including Philippe Pankione, Olivier Libaux, Jérôme Rousseaux (ex-Objets), Jean-Philippe Nataf (from les Innocents), Etienne Charry (ex-Oui Oui) and the group l'Attirail. The album was produced by Matthieu Ballet (another former member of Oui Oui). Arielle gave a series of concerts to promote her new album, but her strikingly original style - which sets her firmly apart from other French female singers - failed to strike a chord with the French public.

Arielle soldiered on with her career, however, and soon returned to the studio once again, releasing her third album, "Mortelle", in 1999. The album cover marked a radical change of style. Abandoning her image as a cool, ethereal ice maiden, Arielle posed naked in the snow, proving she was a woman of real flesh and blood! Renowned for her love of mysticism and the importance she places on prayer, Arielle had decided not to hide her love of worldly pleasures either.

Arielle left nothing to chance on her third album, engaging the services of a crack musical team which included Ian Caple (famous for his work with Bashung and The Tindersticks) on the mixing decks and musicians Angelo Bruschini (Massive Attack) and Steve Nieve (Elvis Costello, Alain Chamfort). Matthieu Ballet, the man who produced Arielle's second album, was called in to oversee production once again. As for the video clip which accompanied the first single release ("Je suis si mince"), this was shot by controversial French film director Gaspar Noé.

Arielle hit the road again in the spring of 2000. She performed a series of concerts up and down the country and also stopped off in Paris for a week in March to perform at Les Déchargeurs. On July 9th Arielle headed off to Switzerland to appear at the famous Montreux jazz festival where she joined a host of international stars - including Alain Chamfort, Jane Birkin, Miossec, Ute Lemper, Salif Keïta and Jacques Higelin - in a tribute to Serge Gainsbourg. Arielle gave an emotional performance of three Gainsbourg classics: "Ces petits rien", "Manon" and "Maxim's" (a song, Arielle told the audience, "I've loved singing since she was a kid!")

The following year she released her fourth album, "Imbecile heureuse". It was produced by Ali Staton (Tricky, Deus) and mixed by David Corcos (Beastie Boys), but her ex-Pygmalion, Matthieu Ballet, was no longer in the picture. According to Arielle it is one of the reasons why her album is more cheerful. Nevertheless, her tone is still quite melancholic, as she has been largely inspired by Cape Verde music and the mornas Cesaria Evora is so keen on. Three of the tracks were penned by Teofilo Chantre and one by Manoel de Novas. Arielle also collaborated with Dominique A for the lyrics of one of the songs, "L’Idiot du village", which she says to be autobiographical.

The singer performed at the Européen, a Parisian concert hall, on November 15, 16 and 17^th where she presented her latest album.

November 2001