Josephine (uk)

'Portrait' is Josephine‘s rather delayed but still stunning debut. We could cite the 4 star review in Britain’s Mojo but we prefer the 3.5 out of 4* in Humo:
'To present Josephine Oniyama on a 24-carat gold platter... thirty, the colour of dark caramel, lives in Manchester but has Liberian and Jamaican roots... grew up with the gospel of Odetta and Mahalia Jackson and the folk of Joni Mitchell, and furthermore enjoys Iron & Wine, Joanna Newsom and Stevie Wonder.

Firstly there’s her voice: a soulful, slightly husky balsam that easily reaches those high notes but never goes overboard – in any event, the musical-scale alarm never goes off on 'Portrait'. That debut finally came, after years of playing acoustic guitar and singing in clubs, and it is thanks to that sheltered period that Josephine now delivers an album full of agile songs.

To keep it simple, Josephine puts herself in the category soul/alternative but, actually, you have to be a fan of pop to enjoy 'Portrait', and also like Gabrielle, Estelle, Annie Lennox and the All Saints of 'Pure Shores'.

'Portrait'’s biggest asset is that you get the feeling that you’ve heard these songs on the radio before.' Elbow-frontman Guy Garvey can round up, with Josephine as 'an old soul singer in a beautiful young girl'!?

Ladylike Lily (fr)

A surprising support-act, as 'indietronica folk', will be young Frenchwoman Ladylike Lily solo. After a first EP, 'On My Own', now there's also the CD 'Get Your Soul Washed' and she's here under the watchful eye of the JauneOrange entourage. She can charmingly do her thing with band (see: last year at Switzerland's Paléo.)

But is equally impressive and all the more fragile as solo vocals, guitar, pedals and 'glockenspiel'. To be carefully classified between Cocorosie and Joanna Newsom!?