Normandie Wilson

Smooth and loungey, Wilson’s piano-driven songs of love stop short of being jazzy but definitely fit into the Inara George/Becky Stark world of torch songs by women with lovely voices. The B side is a sad breakup song about figuring out how to halve one’s life at the end of a relationship, with the most mournful flute I may have ever heard. But “Saturday Night Girl” is pop perfection, spinning a very classy Dionne Warwick vibe around the excitement of going with a guy up to a room and doing what man and woman do. Wilson’s vocal delivery is sexy, but the song isn’t lustful–this is a joyous song with trumpets like beams of sunlight coming in the bedroom window. And in the afterglow, when she tells her paramour that he takes it “one step further than the other guys do,” you’re not sure whether she’s talking about about love, or some novelty from the Pleasure Chest–and my guess is a bit of both. - LA Record

Adorable piano-pop reviver Normandie Wilson to take loungy tunes to the Red Fox

Soft, sweet, songful and sonorous, the West Virginia-born Normandie Wilson is on the road and will take her catchy, lounge tunes to Humboldt for the first time at the Red Fox Tavern on Tuesday, Jan. 31.

”I've really wanted to take a Lost Coast trip for about two years now,” Wilson said. “It's something I'd like to do in the next two years.”

Artistic and creative, the singer-songwriter, now based out of San Diego, meticulously paints a piano-based indie-pop soundscape with shades of soul, R&B and lounge. - Tri-City Weekly

Adorable piano-pop reviver Normandie Wilson to take loungy tunes to the Red Fox

Soft, sweet, songful and sonorous, the West Virginia-born Normandie Wilson is on the road and will take her catchy, lounge tunes to Humboldt for the first time at the Red Fox Tavern on Tuesday, Jan. 31.

”I've really wanted to take a Lost Coast trip for about two years now,” Wilson said. “It's something I'd like to do in the next two years.”

Artistic and creative, the singer-songwriter, now based out of San Diego, meticulously paints a piano-based indie-pop soundscape with shades of soul, R&B and lounge. - Tri-City Weekly

San Diego-based singer/songwriter Normandie Wilson's smooth, crisp melodies are a bubbly reminder that preserved music can relate to a new generation if its time-capsulated sounds are shared by an artist willing to hone in on its authenticity. Wilson's swanky, '60s pop-inspired sounds may be best suited for a dimly lit, basement-level lounge equipped with jazzy retro furniture and honest martinis.

-Steven Ashford
- Hear Nebraska

“If Burt Bacharach were to be reincarnated as a plucky songstress with a love for birds, you’d have Normandie Wilson… Wilson is about to strike musical gold again with the release of Summers Are for Lovers. The five-song EP has everything her fans have come to expect, from the precocious vocals of the lead single “Just a Little Time” to the poppy introspection of “Every Morning’s a Chance to Make Things Right” to the impressive instrumentation of the closing track “Beach at Night.” Throughout it all, Wilson’s wry, sugarcoated wit keeps the listener hanging on every lyric.”

- Chris Maroulakos, Summer Lovin’ | NBC San Diego - NBC San Diego

"Singing in a sweet voice that recalls Camera Obscura’s Tracyanne Campbell, Normandie Wilson plays sweet, wide-eyed ’60s lounge-pop with tiki and French-pop undertones." - Express Milwaukee

For the most part, The Flower Box is filled with sweet, charming, semi-awkward, ’60s-inspired pop that brings to mind a female version of Ben Folds (if he listened to more Motown and Astrud Gilberto). For all the layers of handclaps, horns and twinkling keyboards, nothing feels overworked—rather, the sparse arrangements sound so fizzy and frothy that they threaten to float away at any moment and take your heart with them. But every so often, the odd understated instrumental composition pops up to ground it all and show Wilson’s talents in an entirely new light. It’s these moments that set The Flower Box apart and really make it sparkle. - San Diego CityBeat

What is a girl to do when her musical kindred spirits are singers like Karen Carpenter, Dusty Springfield, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, but she just happened to be born a few decades too late?
Well, if you’re Normandie Wilson, you openly embrace your quirky influences and use them to create music that’s both original and timeless, yet with a uniquely modern spin… something like a bizarre mix of Regina Spektor, a female Ben Folds, and Bjork during her “It’s Oh So Quiet” phase. - Flamethrower Magazine

I like to think of the L.A. neighborhood of Silverlake as the center of the indie pop world at this particular moment. I’m not sure if Ms. WILSON actually resides there, but her sound certainly fits in with the likes of BIRD AND THE BEE and others of that ilk. Stripped down naïve fun pop for those who bow in reverence at the mention of HARRY NILSSON.

SOUNDS LIKE:
BEACH BOYS, APRIL MARCH, BURT BACHARACH

SUGGESTED TRACKS:
1 “Goodbye” (shoulda been a huge hit in 1972)
2 “I’m Not Dead Yet” (wistful, life-affirming folky pop)
4 “Love Lives In Paris” (a CAROLE KING-like instrumental) - Pirate Cat Radio

It’s fitting that Wilson’s vocals soar like a bird over her swanky pop arrangements — she’s a member of the San Diego Audubon Society, and has dedicated herself to painting every single species of bird before she dies. - Owl & Bear

Cute, catchy, sexy. These are three words I’d use to describe the music of Normandie Wilson, a painter/songrwiter/multi-instrumentalist with a particular penchant for piano and smart pop lyrics... The album is terrific – a collection of pop songs washed between instrumental pieces that are interesting and perfect transitions between her fun songs and her more introspective ones. It’s is a keeper that’s grown on me more and more with every listen. - Berkeley Place

"thoughtful songwriting, pleasantly elastic vocals, and solid grooves reflect the shine of ’60s and ’70s pop without sinking to AM-gold schmaltz."
- Jose Gonzales, Phoenix New Times (Jul 15, 2009)
- Phoenix New Times

"The confidence within the vocals is nearly unmatched today. The lyrics... at times evoke Cole Porter. The piano playing reminds me a bit of Elliott Smith and Schroeder from “The Peanuts”."
Christopher of Series Two Records - Even In The Future, Nothing Works, March 02 2010 - Even In The Future Nothing Works

"Just when you think the album could become a bore, a whistle, scream or erratic vocal freak-out ala Modest Mouse front man Isaac Brock meets you and simultaneously punches you in the privates."
- Christina Caldwell, College Times (Jul 09, 2009) - College Times