Soft Centre

Soft Centreis the new album byIko Chérie, the solo project of French-born, London-based multi-instrumentalistMarie Merlet.She blends dub-inflected textures, pop tinged vocals, reverb-drenched guitars, Casio drones, and warm experimental noises – creating her own intimate, fragile sound.Self-produced and largely performed by Merlet, the album grew from an introspective process, with many sketches recorded in transit between tours. The result is a deeply personal work, balancing light and dark in a Lynchian dream-pop haze. Songs such asWe Smoke That Peace PipeandBilbaoshimmer between vulnerability and resilience, while the singleGhosted Ghosters of the Holy Gcaptures the immediacy of a one-take dub bass. Some pieces retain the quality of improvised snapshots (Intelligent Women, Half a Metaphor) while others reveal her meticulous production process and songwriting craft (Tears in the Sea, Luciférine).Merlet definesSoft Centreasalive in radical tenderness, unguarded, open, and vivid.Influenced byClarice Lispector’sprose,Diane di Prima’s poetry andRachel Carson’s environmentalist writing, as well as Marie’s fascination with a vintageRoland Space Echo, the album is an invitation to connection that she describes as“... hopefully a meditation into healing.”A versatile musician trained in classical piano, jazz, and electroacoustic composition, Merlet has long moved between different worlds of sound. She has worked with Laetitia SadierinMonade, performs withGina Birch (The Raincoats), Malphino, Yama Warashi, and several other groups, she recently appeared on the latestStereolabalbum. 
Her debut solo LP,Dreaming On(Elefant Records, 2015), revealed her singular melodic instincts; withSoft Centreshe ventures further inward, shaping her own distinctive voice in experimental pop.“Through an unseen threshold lies a room of warmth, stitched with melodies of quiet hope"Valentina Magaletti“Marie Merlet aka Iko Chérie has landed new music of a divine nature. Divine because it speaks of the Ocean, it speaks of witches, it speaks of justice and things unseen, it speaks to sensitive people who know that there is importance in telling our truth and making a just noise that may find its echo in the dark, amplified by the atoms of resonance, coming to life through a song with a wholesome story.”Laetitia Sadier“Iko Chérie has the soundtrack for your dreams. A soft and warm embrace that invites us to navigate this world with an open heart.”Coco Maria